Yesterday is History
by TheCoffeeShopMuse
Summary: Set after those famous four words. Rose Hathaway has not been heard from or seen for 5 years. The Moroi/Dhampir world is now falling apart with rising Strigoi numbers and falling Dhampir numbers. Now, Rose Mazur has received the call for help, and she's a coming! And the best part? She's bringing a few friends who know how to kick ass and raise hell.
1. Prologue

**This idea has been knocking around in my head for a while now, and I just want to get it out there. So, I've decided to simply sit my butt down, and write. Reviews and constructive criticisms and welcomed! Thank You!**

**Disclaimer: I own the plot and idea. I do not own Vampire Academy. All rights go to Richelle Mead.**

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_**Set after those famous four words. Rose Hathaway has not been heard from or seen for 5 years. The Moroi/Dhampir world is now falling apart with rising Strigoi numbers and falling dhampir numbers. Now, Rose Mazur has received the call for help, and she's a coming! And the best part? She's bringing a few friends who know how to kick ass and raise hell.**_

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**Prologue**

**Rose Hathaway**

I smiled a watery smile at the men before me before hoisting my duffle bag onto my shoulder.

"Well, I guess this is it…" I trailed off.

Adrian and Eddie smiled back at me, soft, sad smiles.

"Try and call me as soon as you get there, wherever 'there' is." Eddie said, pulling me into a tight bear hug.

I hugged him back. Eddie Castile was and always will be one of my most loyal friends, one of my best. Holy shit I would miss him. But I had to go, to take this new opportunity, whatever it was.

"Little Dhampir," Adrian murmured as I embraced him, "promise to keep in touch?"

"If I don't you have your ways of keeping me in touch," I grinned, flicking his forehead.

He chuckled, "I suppose I do."

I pulled back and grinned, staring into his eyes. "For what it's worth, you weren't the worst boyfriend I ever had, actually, due to the small sample size, you're actually in the top three."

"I knew it! Ha!" Adrian boasted, a self-satisfied grin on his arrogant face.

The three of us stood still for a moment, not sure of what to do, not wanting to say goodbye when Christian came back from the restroom. He coughed uncomfortably and fidgeted in place.

"Ok, I guess…this is it. Thanks for the lift…I guess." He muttered. Sparky and his wondrous social skills, at least I would have that to keep me company.

The three guys exchanged some awkward man hugs, before we truly had to leave or risk missing our flights. As I stepped through the security barrier, I looked back at the two remaining people who hadn't abandoned me. Eddie and Adrian waved one last time, and I managed a weak smile before moving further through security with Christian. We passed through metal detectors and collected our bags out on the other end before heading toward our gate.

"_Rose. Please stop. Please stay away."_

In an undertone, I murmured, "This isn't over. I won't give up on you."

_"I've given up on you," he said back, voice also soft. "Love fades. Mine has."_

_I busted out of the church, fighting back tears, not wanting to breakdown in public. I am Rose freaking Hathaway. I do not cry. I do not cry. I do not cry. I do not possess tear ducts. I kept up my chant until I couldn't anymore. Collapsing in a secluded alley, I just couldn't stop the tears._

_Swiping angrily at one that fell down my cheek, I laughed, a strange, hysterical sound that tore from my throat. I was so goddamn foolish to believe that all would be ok now. That Dimitri and I would simply run back into each other's arms and we'd all live happily ever after. I never thought he'd ignore me. But no, he treats me like trash his needs to desperately throw away while kissing the ground Lissa walked on. I mean I just quit school, busted out a criminal from the highest ranking security prison, and put my life and heart on the line for him! And what did Lissa do? Get herself kidnapped, shoved the stake through his heart, and then treats him like her baby while shoving aside everyone else. I knew things between her and Christian were shakey, and it was just getting worse as she focused all her attention on Dimitri._

_I pushed back the anger threatening to pull me in, I needed to calm down, to think rationally._

_I needed…I needed..I need…_

"_Petrov."_

"_Alberta?" I said as I paced in my room, "it's Rose Hathaway. I need your help. I need a job. Now. Anywhere, I don't care where it is, I just need out of Court."_

"_Rose? Wha-what do you mean?" Came Alberta's surpised voice._

"_A job. Far, far away from Court. Please." I pleaded, ending in a whisper._

_She signed through the phone. "I'll call out a contact I have, I think I may have something for you."_

"_Thank you." I breathed out in relief, falling back onto my bed before the sheer emotional impact of the day lulled my to a fitful sleep. _

_When Alberta called back, the sun had just risen. She had found me a job, and my flight left at midnight, or noon by Moroi standards. That gave me enough time to do what I had to do…_

_A few minutes later I found myself in front of a familiar door, poised to knock. But before I could, he door swung back, and Adrian was there. He seemed to know what was about to occur, seeming to peacefully resign himself to that fact._

"_Come in." He said, sweeping aside and letting me come in. _

_I headed toward the couch as he went toward the fridge and poured himself a drink. He came back and plopped down beside me on the couch._

"_Little Dhampir," he sighed, "what are we going to do with you?"_

_I didn't reply, simply looking down and forcing a tight smile onto my face._

"_This is it, isn't it?" Adrian murmured before taking a sip of his drink._

_With a rueful smile, I replied, "Is it really that obvious?"_

"_Well, I can just read you well. And your aura's practically been screaming it at me since, well since Belikov's been back if I'm honest."_

_There was no anger, no resentment in his tone, just resigned sadness. God, this so did not help my guilt or make any of this any easier._

"_You don't know how badly I wish I could commit myself to you Adrian. I really wish I could, but you have to know, that – that we would've never worked out in the end. Too many variables against us. Like your father for one. "_

"_And this twisted, fucked up society in general."_

"_And your love of drinking and smoking."_

"_And your inability to love anyone the way you love Belikov." Adrian said, slipping an arm around me. I leaned into him, wondering how he could be so accepting when he had every right to yell and throw stuff. This was the most amiable breakup ever, I mused._

_I couldn't dispute that, not when I know it's the truth. "Yeah, I supposed there's that too…"_

_Together, we sat in companionable silence for a while._

"_I'm leaving." I blurted out. "Tonight. I need to get away, I can't stay here. Not anymore."_

_Adrian shot up and then kneeled in front of me with pleading eyes, "Little Dhampir…"_

"_No, please don't. Do not try to stop me. I know what I'm giving up; you, Eddie, Lissa, my job. I know Adrian! But I just don't know who I am anymore. All my life I thought I knew what I wanted; to become a kick-ass Guardian, graduate, and guard Lissa. But no, not anymore. I cannot guard someone who ignores me, shames me, belittles me, I just cannot do it anymore Adrian!" I ended with a whisper, sinking further into the couch._

_Adrian's eyes softened, and he sat back onto the couch, knowing not to fight me._

"_Will you promise to remember me once you're gone, out into the big scary world?" He quipped._

"_You're pretty unforgettable." I grinned._

"_Damn straight!" He cheered and we both laughed._

_He leaned forward and kissed me softly. This was not a romantic kiss, it was a kiss goodbye, to us, and to me._

_We pulled back, and I smiled, feeling the most content I had in days. Hell, let's be honest here, in months!_

"_You know who else is hurting?" Adrian suddenly asked._

_I turned to him inquiringly._

"_Christian. You know how him and Lissa were beginning to patch things up? Yeah, well, considering Lissa's been spending all her time with Belikov and those kiss-ass royals, you know, the ones she calls her 'friends?' Anyway, he's been feeling rather neglected, again. Oh, and add to the fact that Lissa was seen leaving a club in the arms of a certain Aaron Dashkov…yeah, not helping their situation. I think he's done. Truly and completely done with her."_

_I stared back wide eyed. What the hell. What was wrong with Lissa? What was wrong with the world!? I had not heard of any of this! Shit, how out of it have I been? I'd never thought I'd say this but…poor Fire Crotch._

_It was this line of thinking that led me to Christian Ozera's door. After copious amounts of knocking, the door finally opened to reveal Christian Ozera, looking tired and without his usual sardonic smirk._

_Before he could say anything I started, "I'm leaving, tonight. I've got a new job, and if you want to come with me, be at my room at 9 o'clock sharp." I then turned to leave, not waiting for his reply._

"_You want to know how I found her?" Christian's voice suddenly rang out. I paused and turned._

"_Found her leaving the Dashkov wing, doing the walk of shame." He laughed bitterly. "When I confronted her about it she lashed out. As if it was my fault, that I drove her into the arms of Dashkov. Then I confronted her about Belikov, about how she doesn't need to baby him, how she should let you speak to him."_

_I stared, surprised. Christian Ozera, standing up for me?_

"_She called me a cruel, heartless asshole. That I needed to grow up and see the 'trauma and emotional breakdown' Belikov's going through or get the fuck out of her life." Okay, that's just plain harsh._

"_9 o'clock." I repeated. He nodded before shutting the door._

"Rose, Rose." Christian's voice shocked me out of the memories I had fallen into.

"We're boarding." He said, getting up.

I retrieved my duffle, stood, and headed to the gate.

I had a broken heart, a bag of personal belongings, a plane ticket, a Sparky, and an uncertain future. So, with a heavy heart and queasy stomach, I set off, to take on my new life.

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Hoped you enjoyed that! I know this concept has been done to death, but just bear with me, I promise some surpises along the way. Please read and review!


	2. 5 Years Later

**I am so happy you guys liked the first chapter! Here's chapter 2, bit of a time jump here!**

**Special shoutout to Yaru101 for being my first reviewer!  
**

**Also - I just want you all to know that the planned endgame is Dimitri and Rose.**

**Disclaimer: I own the plot and idea. I do not own Vampire Academy. All rights go to Richelle Mead.**

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**Rose Hathaway**

**5 Years Later**

I could feel him behind me.

The familiar melody began, and I felt him get closer.

Rough, calloused hands skimmed down the sides of my breasts, down to my waist where they came to rest. He grasped me gently, turned me around to face him, pulling my body flush against his. My brown eyes locked with his gray ones, his hands reflexively squeezed my hips as I brought up one hand

to his rather impressive bicep, the other landing on the nape of his neck, where my fingers entwined with the short hairs at the back of his head.

And so we began.

Our movements were frantic, yet controlled; wild but tense. He led me around the room in tight circles, our hands roaming and squeezing as we danced, as if we were long lost lovers finally reunited after so long. And we were actually dancing, none of that horrible grinding that everyone in every club did no matter what the song was.

Suddenly I stopped in the middle of the room. My hands began to drift down from his shoulders to his chest, where I could feel the hard, taught muscles that lay there. My body began to slide down his, my nose grazing the top of his abs, my hands at his belt loops. My butt popped out of its own accord, my leg swept back, kicking the ground with the toe of my foot, before sweeping around in a semi-circle. However before I could go lower, his hand caught my ankle, forcing me to pause and look up at him. His hand began to travel up, up, up to my thigh. He then turned me, so that my back was flush to his front, hands came to rest around my throat and on my stomach. My eyes drooped, my head lulled back to rest in the crook of his neck. We manipulated my body to curl around his, preparing for the lift. My arms reached backwards to wrap around his neck, my legs gripped his as I felt myself leave the ground and we began to spin round and round and round…

And then he dropped me, sending both of us crashing to the floor.

"Damnit Noble!" I shrieked, rubbing my hip as I glared at the man sprawled out next to me, who had the audacity to be laughing.

"Sorry 'bout that love." Ben chuckled in his lilting English accent.

I kicked his shin lightly. "Don't "love" me!" I said, mimicking his accent.

"Okay then." He grinned. "Sorry 'bout that you loud, insufferable Yank of a shrew."

"That's better, Harry Potter." I teased.

"Dude, that like…hurt. Like seriously." He deadpanned in a pothead surfer accent.

"Wanker!" I laughed, shoving his shoulder.

"Why you-" Ben's retort was cut off by the alarm on his phone going off.

We both spun around to look at the clock in the room, which read 6:30 PM. Well, time to get back to our day jobs.

"Shit!" He muttered, getting up and unplugging his phone from the stereo before coming back to help me up off the floor. "Christian."

"Oh no! We left our charge, who specializes in Fire and graduated with top marks in his Moroi Offense classes, alone in one of the safest dimensions in the universe! We're gonna get fired!" I cried, rolling my eyes.

"Ten bucks the boy's still asleep."

"Actually, he's most definitely still asleep. Josh texted saying he had a rather late night last night." I smirked, miming chugging from a bottle.

"Hey, the guy's just graduated from uni. It's practically tradition to go out and get absolutely smashed." Ben said, "We need to get going. If he's conscious he's probably wanting a hangover potion."

I head to the ladies changing room to get out of my sweats and a few minutes later I emerge from the ladies changing room in my Elite uniform, my partner already in his as well.

"Ready for the night shift?" Ben asked as we headed toward the exit, waving to some cast members of _MacBeth_, which was playing its last few shows at the theater this week.

We stepped out of the Spero Theater and onto the busy street. People are wrong about New York being the city that never sleeps because it is truly Lux that never sleeps. During the day, Nephilim, Witches, Wizards, and Werewolves (just to name a few species) go about their day, heading to work, school, whatever. During the night however, the vampires (or at least four of the six sub species of vampire), faeries, and goblins (again, just to name a few) do their daily grind. So everything here is truly open for 24 hours a day; malls, museums, schools, offices, all of them.

As we headed toward the city center, the news was showing on the enormous jumbotron situated on one of the high rises.

"In other inter-dimensional news, even though Guardian numbers are dwindling down at a scarily rapid rate, Moroi Queen Tatiana Ivashkov and the Royal Council have yet to take firm action to protect not only Moroi, but Guardians as well. And with sources telling us about a possible rebellion amongst the Guardians, they have been come up with a plan fast." The news broadcaster reported.

"Sweetheart, you know that only reason I endure the wretched Monday night shift is because of you!" I squeal, fluttering my eyelashes while Ben rolls his eyes.

"Darling, the only reason I make it through Mondays is due to the knowledge I get to spend 14 hours of it with you!" He replies.

"Oh Benjamin!" I gush as we head down the streets and head toward the familiar sleek gray high rise.

"Get a room!"

We look away from each other and see Lev, Denis, Arthur, and Dianna coming out of Elite Headquarters.

"Hey boys. Di. Clocked out?"

"Yep, and just in time too." Lev grins.

"Yeah, this one's got a hot date with his lady. " Denis says elbowing Arthur, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Arthur flushes. He's always been the quietest out of their little trio. And the topic he's most quiet about?

His relationship with Ana, which I guess makes sense considering we all love to give him a hard time on it.

"Guys, stop. Don't be jealous that Arthur actually has a girlfriend while the closest you two have come to scoring with a member of the opposite sex was with a guy dressed in a Daenerys Targaryen costume at Comic Con last year, and some drunk chick who ending up leaving mid-date for her ex." Dianna rolled her eyes

Lev bristled. "He was very skinny, had a flawless complexion, and told me his name was Kim!"

Denis defended, "It was going well until her stupid ex showed up, using all sappy words and declaring his love!"

"Mhmm, mhm, yeah, all I'm hearing is that you two are pathetic." I say, smirking.

"Oh, you're getting that signal as well?" Ben grins as we nod vigorously at each other and Dianna cracks up.

"You suck." Denis glares before he leaves.

"Worst. Boss. Ever." Lev says dramatically, winking, before heading off too.

"That's right, insult the woman who signs off on your performance reports!" I call out, flipping them off.

They laugh, return the favor and disappear into the crowd.

"You and Ana have fun tonight alright? And enjoy your vacation. We'll see you in two weeks." I say, smiling at Arthur.

"Thanks." He grins. "How's the dance coming along?"

"Great, except you know, for the fact that my ass hurts from the amount of times this one has dropped me!" I say, giving Ben some serious side eye.

"What? You think my ass doesn't hurt from trying to lift and drag yours around?"

"I seem to recall a mission where you managed to drag both our asses to safety and managed to kick the ass of that Raeger demon that was after us."

"Well, I gotta get home, got a date with Ben and Jerry and my bathtub. I'll leave you two to your ass conversation." Dianna sings as she heads off and Arthur soon leaves as well for his date.

"Hey, we just need to get through this week and we'll be on vacation too." Ben says in response to my pouty, or as he calls it, platypus face.

Ben and I head into Elite HQ and clock in before setting off for Christian's apartment. Right as we're leaving the building, my phone rings, playing my specialized ring tone for Christian.

"Rose? Ben? Could you bring over some of Leigha's hangover potion for me? Thanks? Oh, and could you also figure out a way to make the sun stop shining so freaking brightly? Thanks." Christian grumbles, sounding much like death, before hanging up.

"Our charge, what a peach." I sigh, pocketing my phone.

"Look on the bright side," Ben grins, "he's so hungover he'll sleep for the rest of the day..."

"Leaving us, his loyal Patronus, free to eat the food in his refrigerator." I grin back, catching on.

"And use his new shiny flat-screen to watch that Doctor Who marathon on today." Ben finishes.

"I do love the way you think! Geronimo!" I sing as I grab Ben's hand and start pulling down the street.

"God, I hate how you've made me into a nerd." I huff a few steps later, realizing what I just said, in public no less.

"You wish! You love me, and everything about me, including how I have made you embrace that inner nerd living inside that cold heart of yours." He retorts cheekily, linking arms with me as we continue down the street.

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce to you, Benjamin Noble. My partner and my best friend. Dear God do I love him.

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**Ok, I know you're confused, BUT about 75% of what's going on will be explained in the next chapter. Just trust me. ;)**

**As always, please read and review! Seeing your reviews in my inbox always make me excited!**


	3. Hello Old Friend

**Hey guys! I'm back with another new chapter, and hopefully this one will clear almost everything up. Thanks for the reviews last chapter, but I've seem to have lost a lot of you with the last chapter. :( Was it too confusing? Boring? I would love some feedback, just to know what you guys are thinking! **

**Not a lot of action is chapter, mostly explanation, but I needed to take this chapter to explain the setting and backstory! I promise, after this chapter, the real action will begin! Just have faith!  
**

**Disclaimer: I own the plot and idea. I do not own Vampire Academy. All rights go to Richelle Mead.**

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**Rose Hathaway**

Ben and I did indeed spend most of our day eating Christian's leftovers and watching Doctor Who while Christian alternated between snoozing and grumbling about his hangover. We were relieved by Lev and Isabella and picked up some dinner before splitting up; Ben went home while I headed over to the Elite. I headed up to Team Eight's floor and began the paperwork. A few hours later I sat back in my office chair, glad that for once I had finally finished all the performance reports I had to do for the team before my vacation started next week. Standing, I stretched and made my way to the office door, eager to head back to my apartment and get a few hours of shut eye before my next shift started in a few hours.

When Christian and I left 5 years ago, I would have never imagined my life would turn out like this. Alberta, bless her soul, had sent us to Lux. What is the Lux you ask? The Lux was a completely different dimension, a new world completely different from the Moroi world Christian and I were accustomed to. It is a melting pot of worlds, cultures, and species. We found out there were at least six different types of vampires. Not only that, there were werewolves, nephilim, witches and wizards, and so many more. We were sent to Caelum, which acted like the capital city for Lux. It was as if someone had blended New York with Rome. The city was the place for the modern, the cutting edge, the hustle and bustle of a big city; but it also had the beautiful architecture and laid back feel of the country. But the best part? Caelum was also home to Elite Headquarters and Guardian Headquarters.

I was originally sent to the Guardians, which, of course, made sense. The Guardian system here was totally different from the stuff that was pounded into me since birth. While I had been trained to defend, Guardians here received both defense and offense training. There were two sectors in the Other Realm Guardian system. One sector who did the more traditional guarding duties, but even here the guarding job was way more relaxed for two reasons. One, the threat of Strigoi was way less here. IN fact, you wanna guess the dimension with the highest Strigoi count? Yep, you got it, the Moroi world had the highest count. And two, Moroi here actually took…dun dun dun…defensive magic and some combat classes. Shhh…can you hear that? It's the sound of the all those old pretentious royals from Court falling out of their overpriced chairs in horror over the thought of actually getting off their asses and defending their selves.

The other sector was responsible for going out and eliminating the threat. And man do they do their job. They were meticulous, planning out their raids and missions, always managing to eliminate covens of Strigoi before they even had the chance to strike. This greatly effected Strigoi numbers here, and many of them fled to other dimensions, and the Guardians were beginning to branch out and follow them.

Then there's the Elite. While the Guardians took care of the Strigoi, the Elite agents took care of everything else. For years I thought Strigoi were the deadliest beings out there. Oh, I was so wrong. There were so many others creatures out there who chose to walk on the dark path. The Elite was much like the Guardians, but they were not just limited to Dhampirs. Any person of any species could join the Elite, just as long as they passed the rigorous training. When I chose to join the Elite over the Guardians, I found out that though my Guardian training had fulfilled most of the necessary classes for the Elite, I still had to go through some major weapons training and even took some rudimentary classes; like Potions, Latin, Mythology, History of the Elite, just to name a few, to help me settle in and gain more knowledge about this world.

My education at the Elite took two years, and after that came Elite IV. In the Elite there were four stages. Elite IV was like a sampler of all the Elite had to offer. There you got to choose which sector you wanted to go to, and the Elite had many sectors; field agents, technical analysts, the Patronus (the Elite's version of Guardians), and many, many more. Elite III was where you had exposure to the sector you chose, but it was guided. And you could not move on until you were deemed ready for Elite II. There you really learned the ropes of the sector, and perfected your skills. From Elite II, you advance to Elite I. And finally, at Elite I, you've arrived. You are now a full-fledged Elite Agent, free to kickass in the field you chose.

I had chosen the field agent route. The field agents were much like the newer Guardians, we went out on missions and fought to neutralize the threat. Field agents are usually partnered up and then put into teams. In our team, Team 8, there were ten of us. We usually went out on missions in smaller groups or just with our partner, but sometimes a threat was big enough to require an entire group, or even groups.

After I had chosen to join the Elite and become a field agent, I thought I had left my guarding days behind me. I just did not factor I one thing; Christian. Out of all of the Guardians he could have chosen, he instead chose a Patronus, more accurately, he wanted me. Well, he got more than he ever expected because he not only got me, he got our entire team. The boy who never had a Guardian his entire life now had fourteen people defending him. We divided the work up by days, two of us per day for the entire week with weekends being open to whoever was avaliable.

Overall, life was amazing here. I had an awesome job, fantastic friends, and dare I say it, a charge who does not drive me crazy all the time. Two years ago the rest of the group had elected me team leader after Jay, the original team leader, had to step down due to the birth of his son, Jack. You see, while the team leader did not have more risks involved, they did have more paperwork to do than the average agent and Jay wanted to have more time to spend with his new family. I was nervous, but thrilled at the same time. I mean, Rose Hathaway, the girl who broke every rule in the Guardian handbook, as a team leader in the Elite? Oh, if only Hans could see me now…

I was brought out of my reverie by my phone ringing his special ringing tone.

_A fool like me, a fool like me__  
__And when your momma sees me callin' on your telephone, she hangs up on me__  
__That bitch hangs up on me__  
__Yeah I know__  
__That I'm a grown ass man__  
__Who still acts like an idiot__  
__But Lord he must have been in a good mood the day__  
__He let a girl like you__  
__Choose to take a fool like me_

A smile came to my face as I reached for my phone and answered. It had been a while since we had spoken.

"Hello old friend."

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**Who can tell me where that last quote from? If you can, you'll get a sneak peak of the next chapter!**

** Hmmm…an old friend, I wonder who it could be. Hint: the answer is in the song! Please review, I love getting them, and I will hopefully see you guys soon!**


	4. Court

**Hey guys! Thank you all for your responses to the last chapter, it is also so exciting for me to log into my email and see some reviews waiting for me. You guys rock! For all of those who put their two cents in about who called…you will see who it was this chapter. And special shout out to DrunkenSage for figuring out the Doctor Who reference in the last chapter. Congrats!**

**Anyway, this chapter turned out way longer than I intended it to, but I had to get certain things in here. So, let us proceed, and see how life has been at Court!**

**Disclaimer: I own the plot and idea. I do not own Vampire Academy. All rights go to Richelle Mead.**

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**Adrian Ivashkov**

"There are rumors of rebellion! We cannot stand for that!" Henri Badica roared, flying out of his seat in what he probably thought was a grand gesture, but it really just made him look like flapping chicken.

"We need to do something! If the Guardians will not serve us, why should we keep them around?" Prisilla Conta sniffed from her seat.

"I still think we should re-visit the idea of defensive ma-" one of the more liberal Tarus' began before she was cut off.

"If we Moroi can protect ourselves, why do we even keep the Dhampirs around anyway? I mean, judging by our current situation, they have done a disgraceful job serving their duty." Henri Badica said with disdain.

"I still think we should think about lowering the age from eighteen to seventeen. Or maybe have two Moroi for each Guardian!" Lady Cecil Dashkov interjected brightly.

Stupidity, it was ripe and plentiful here.

As more and more Moroi got riled up and began to inject their own "helpful" ideas, my great aunt intervened.

"Order! Order!" She barked, pounding her gavel, causing the room to settle down. "While the matter of Dhampir loyalty is something that affects all of the Moroi, I feel that it would be more…prudent for this to be discussed amongst my advisors and I. Once we have reached a consensus on what to do, we will return and share our opinions." Great-Aunt banged her gavel once more and just like that the meeting was adjourned.

As disgruntled Moroi began to leave the chamber, with the very Guardians they were putting down earlier, the chatter and panic began to spread.

"How can they rebel?"

"What will we do?"

"What have we done wrong? I mean, I think we treat the Dhampirs well."

"They like fighting, it's like…their thing." Serena Conta said brightly in her air head tone of voice.

"I know right?! I mean, I think their lives are pretty sweet. They get to fight, and they get to work for us, and it's not like working for us is like…bad! I mean, they get to look at us all day! I would love to get paid to look at me all day." Her twin sister, Cynthia, said with a flick of her strawberry blonde hair. "What do you think L?"

I couldn't help it, and snorted in disdain over that fact that she actually let people call her that.

Lissa, hearing me, turned and shot me a dirty look before turning her attention back to her little pack. "I am simply so afraid of the ever increasing Strigoi attacks. How could they have let the problem gotten to this point?" She sniffed as her followers surrounded her and twittered their agreements.

Lissa Dragomir, the once sweet, level headed girl was gone. She had been replaced with "L," as her little pack of sycophants called her, or "Li-Li," as her new boyfriend, Miles, endearingly referred to her. She now spent her days at Lehigh, majoring in political science, the major my Great-Aunt suggested she take, and spent her free time with her sorority sisters from the Alpha Gamma Delta chapter. As far as everyone else was concerned, Lissa Dragomir had become Tatiana's very definition of the perfect little royal, but I knew better.

I knew Lissa well enough that when she said 'they' she meant we, the Moroi, not the Guardians like her little followers thought. I could see the hurt still lingering in her aura from having her best friend and boyfriend run off together. I could see the guilt that threaded through her from how she treated Rose and what she did to Christian. I could see the undercurrent of worry that had never left her these five years, not knowing what had happened to her best friend and ex-boyfriend, the two people she cared for most in the world. But sadly, these were all buried under the care-free, royal-pleasing Lissa Dragomir.

I shook my head and exited the chamber, my ever present, faithful Guardian appearing to flank my side.

We didn't say anything to each other as we exited the hallways. We continued our silence though the groups of complaining Moroi and silent, complacent Guardians, until we got to the main door that led to outside.

I grinned at the Guardian on duty there. "Belikov."

Beside me, Eddie's formerly blank face turned ever so slightly cold, and his aura showed twinges of anger, pity, and smugness. Anger because he was still shocked at how Belikov treated Rose after all she did for him. Pity because the Russian had truly fallen apart when Rose left. Sure his reputation was eventually restored, but not to the degree it was before he became Strigoi. However, Belikov could give a rat's ass about that, all he cared about was Rose. The man had spent a year travelling the world trying to find her. He had crisscrossed the United States, jumped over to Russia, Romania, Turkey; any place that had ties to the Moroi world or Rose.

He came back empty-handed.

Rose was in none of those places. She was in a much better place.

Belikov's life had been centered on two things; being a Guardian and Rose. And since Rose was now gone, he had thrown himself back into being a Guardian. Sure, outwardly Belikov was the perfect Guardian: silent, loyal, lethal, but on the inside? On the inside the guy was a mess. His aura was a jumbled mess of depression, guilt, anger, regret, bitterness; the list goes on. Dimitri Belikov had destroyed the best thing that ever happened to him, and in turn he had destroyed himself.

"Lord Ivashkov, Guardian Castile." He nodded formally before moving aside and letting us through.

"Belikov," Eddie grunted before brushing past him.

"Thank you." I nodded, slapping the man on the back then following Eddie out.

When outside we started heading toward my quarters. It was a mostly silent walk. It was getting late, and I was feeling hungry. After a small detour to the Feeders, Eddie and I finally made it to my room.

Before I could open the door myself, a petite blonde whirlwind opened it for me.

"How did it go? Did they come up with anything? What's going to happen?" Sydney Sage rushed out, her honey eyes filled with concern.

"It was a room full of prejudiced, uninformed snobs trying to decide the fate of a race that they consider nothing more than servants. How do you think it went?" I snorted. "Luckily for you, you are dating one of the non-prejudiced, educated, and much better looking ones." I grinned as she rolled her eyes.

Two years after Rose and Christian left Sydney Sage had been summoned to Court by none other than Abe Mazur to help with the search for Rose. Abe and Guardian Hathaway had spent the better part of the last five years searching endlessly for their daughter. Abe had called every one last of his men, every last one of his vast resources to scour the globe for Rose. Their search was futile and came back empty. Janine Hathaway called Guardians and academies all over the world to see if Rose had ended up at one, but her search came up empty as well.

When Sydney arrived at Court Abe had given her a map, a list of places, and money to fund her trip. She was to focus her search for Rose in Europe and being the gallivant gentleman that I am, I volunteered to accompany her. I would never figure out the real reason I volunteered to join her. There was just something that drew me to her. She protested at first, not wanting to travel across Europe with two of the "evil creatures of the night."

_She scowled as Eddie and I boarded the private jet Abe had provided for us. _

"_I don't see why you two have to come with me. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."_

"_We're going for the same reason you are Cupcake, to track down the ever elusive Rose Hathaway." I grinned at her as Eddie snorted. _

"_Liar, liar pants on fire." He whispered as he walked past me to take his seat. And he was right; we knew where Rose and Christian were. Eddie, though annoyed that we were lying to a girl, who had done no harm to Rose ever, was excited to get out of Court, away from the stress, paperwork and prejudices that plagued him there._

"_Look, I know you're worried about Rose. I can see it. You care about her just as much as the rest of us do." I said as I turned back to Sydney, "Despite the fact that she's an "evil creature of the night." Why is that?" I smirked down at the little Alchemist._

"_Because her father called me and told me to go look for her?" She responded, lying through her teeth._

"_You could have said no."_

"_No one says no to Abe Mazur."_

"_You could have. He wouldn't have done anything to you if you said no. The man may be dangerous, intimidating and insane, but he wouldn't hurt an innocent girl." I sat down in the seat opposite of hers and leaned forward, putting us face to face._

_Why haven't I noticed how pretty her eyes were until now? They were a rich shade of light brown, like honey, my favorite condiment/ingredient. _

"_I owe him a favor." She said, looking back at me with her unwavering gaze._

_I whistled. "My, my, what trouble could you have gotten into to need Abe Mazur to bail you out of?"_

"_None of your business." She sniffed primly._

_We were silent for a while as crew stowed away our luggage and came around to offer us refreshments. She requested a coffee, Eddie a Coke, and I chose a good old friend of mine, Jack._

_The plane was just about ready to go, when she spoke again. _

"_She left you right after she declared her everlasting love for her ex-boyfriend and yet here you are, leaving the comfort of Court to go on a wild goose chase for a girl whom we all know will never be found because she does not want to be. Why?" _

"_She's my friend." I responded honestly with a shrug. "This is what a friend would do."_

"_She's your ex-girlfriend."_

_I shook my head. "No, she's more than that. Rose Hathaway is my best friend. And to be honest, that's all she should have been from the beginning."_

"_Well then, it seems that we may have something in common after all." She said with the slightest of smiles._

"_What?" I raised an eyebrow._

"_She's my best friend too." She replied, settling back into her seat and looking out the window, effectively cutting off the conversation._

It would take three months and five countries for her to truly trust us, well Eddie at least. It would take her four months and seven countries for her to trust me, but the wait was worth it, because when she finally did trust me, it only took one more month for me to be able to call Sydney Sage my girlfriend. She claims she only fell for me because the beautiful Italian architecture clouded her judgment and made me more handsome than I actually was. Yet here we were, three years later, and she was still here with me. Of course, I had to tell her about Rose. It is not good to start a relationship with lies.

"_You want me, to walk into a wall?" Sydney raised an eyebrow at me and Eddie as we all stood in the hallway of my quarters._

"_It's not a wall," Eddie started._

"_It's a portal." I finished._

"_Really? Because it looks a lot like a regular brick wall to me." She challenged. I sighed. Usually I loved her fire cracker spirit that was hidden beneath the demure girl she showed the world, but today it was seriously hindering us._

"_Sydney, please, trust us. Rose has gone to a lot of trouble to get this portal to open here." Eddie pleaded. _

"_Rose? What do you mean Rose?! You mean Rose is inside the wall? You honestly want me to believe that Rose and Christian have been hiding inside a wall for the past two years? What is wr-hey! Put me down!" She started before I cut her off, throwing her over my shoulder, wincing as her began to pound her fists into my back. For someone so tiny, she sure could pack a punch._

"_Let's go," I said, turning to Eddie. He nodded and turned to the portal. He started toward it, and a few seconds later, disappeared into the wall._

"_Oh God. Eddie! Where'd he go!? What is going on here? What are you going to do-"_

"_Oh dear God woman! Calm down, shut up and trust me!" I said, exasperated, before heading toward the portal myself._

_Sydney continued to shriek as we approached the wall. I felt the weird jolt that always occurred during portal travel, and as soon as my body went through the wall, I was face to face with Rose Hathaway, her signature smirk already pasted on her face. _

_A second later I felt Sydney pull herself free from my arms, falling to the ground in an ungraceful heap. She shakily got up, and dusted herself off before settling her hands on her hips and a glare on her face._

"_Rose Hathaway! What in the world? Do you have any idea how worried we've all been about you?! Your parents, Belikov, not to mention me! I mean did you ever stop and think-" Sydney's little tirade was cutoff when Rose flung herself into her arms and held on tight. Living here the past few years has really made her a hugger._

"_I missed you to, Syd. I missed you too." Rose sighed. "But we'll have to catch up later. I've got a graduation to attend." And with that, she smirked, gave me a hug, then straightened out her graduation robes before proceeding to disappear into the crowd. _

"_We should go take our seats," said Christian Ozera from where he and Eddie stood. "The ceremony should start soon."_

"_Wha-" Sydney got out before she finally took a look at her surroundings, taking in the large stadium full of Elite graduates in their black robes, family and friends, and current and former Elite Agents._

_She continued to look around, looking like a fish with her mouth gaping open and closed every few seconds._

"_Yeah, it's a long story that I'm sure Rose will fill you in on later, okay? Now let's go to our seats." I said, guiding her toward our section._

I'd be lying if I said Sydney took the whole thing well. After Rose's graduation, we had gone to Rose's favorite diner to celebrate with all her friends. After about an hour of ranting and raving, Sydney calmed and broke down in Rose's arms, sobbing about how happy she was okay and how worried she had been. Since then we had been to Lux several times, to see Rose and Christian and their friends, and simply loving the general openness of the realm…

"You know what we need to do." I was brought out of my reverie by Eddie.

"We need to call her," he said, pacing back and forth. "She is the best, she can handle this type of crisis, and she can bring them! She has the connections we need!"

"And what makes you think that she'll come back?" I sighed, taking a gulp of my drink. "You know she left for a reason."

"She left because Belikov is a dumbass and because she thought the Princess didn't need her anymore. I know Rose Hathaway! She's one of the most loyal people I know. She wouldn't leave anyone in need of help; not Belikov after what he did to her, not even the Moroi after the way they treated her, if she did she wouldn't be Rose Hathaway." My girlfriend said with great affirmation and a cute little nod from her head.

"Those people ruined her. She was a wreck the first year she was gone. She lost weight, she cut off her hair, she broke down at any mention of anything Russian or pertaining to relationships." I started.

"That was four years ago." Eddie said, turning and looking at me intensely. "She's better now. And I mean that in every way; physically, mentally, and emotionally. She has Elite training, and she and Noble are one of the best duos the Elite have ever had! We all know she would love to show those who wronged her what she's got. Adrian, she's not that broken girl we saw off at the airport. She put herself together, they helped put her back together; Caelum, the Elite, they took Rose Hathaway and made her better. We need Rose, we need her team, hell, we need the Elite and their Guardians! I mean look at them, their Strigoi rate! They have techniques and weapons and training that make ours look like a joke- which it is- and they don't have a faction of their own threatening and planning a rebellion! We. Need. That! All of that!" Eddie finished, breathing harshly by the end of it.

He was right. Caelum had took Rose Hathaway and Christian Ozera and made them better versions of themselves, letting them reach and utilize their full potential. The Elite and Guardian programs were top notch, with state of the art training and equipment. And Rose…Rose would of course help us. She knew of the bleak situation at Court and she would never let her parents, Eddie, or any of us get hurt because of the Moroi's lack of action. And since the bond was broken two years ago she had been stronger mentally as well…

"Okay," I said, downing the rest of my drink before tossing my phone to Sydney. "Call her."

She dialed the familiar number, and a few seconds later her ridiculous ringtone for me rang out. A few more seconds later and…

"Hello Old Friend." I could hear the smile in her voice.

Sydney began, all business. "Rose, we need to talk."

* * *

**So, those of you who guessed Adrian were partially right. Congratulations!**

**Okay guys! We are really starting to get to the meat of the story here. I'd say…oh, about two more chapters before it all comes together. I don't know about you, but I cannot wait! Next up, we'll catch up with our favorite Russian! Wonder how he's been doing these past few years?**

**Anyway, random question for you all: If your best friend suddenly turned into a chocolate cake, what would your reaction be?**

**Look forward to your responses to the chapter and the question!**

**Until next time! **


	5. The Mind of a Broken Russian

**Hey guys! Thank you so much for all the responses I received from the last chapter!I loved reading your thoughts on the situation at Court and your responses to my chocolate cake question! It gave me the warm fuzzies...seriously, it did. Though some of you have some cannibalistic tendencies, but that's okay! (Kinda.) You guys rock my virtual world. Hope you enjoy this one.**

**Disclaimer: I own the plot and idea. I do not own Vampire Academy. All rights go to Richelle Mead.**

* * *

**Dimitri Belikov**

"Dimitri?" The voice was clear and strong and one that I would know anywhere.

Roza.

"Roza?" I spun around, and there she was, my beautiful girl.

She was crouched behind a pile of sand bags, her eyes full of pain and pleading with me.

"Dimitri, please. I love you." Roza implored reaching toward me, her soulful eyes welling up with tears.

I wanted to run to her and tell her how much I love her too. I wanted to hold her soft, supple body against mine and never let go. I wanted to stroke her gorgeous mane of hair and just gaze at her perfect little face before kissing those full, plump lips of hers. I wanted to do all that I could do to express my love to my Roza.

However that did not happen.

What happened instead was my worst nightmare; history repeating itself.

"Dimitri? Please, I-I love you, so so much," she whimpered.

I had no control over my body; I could not rush forward and reassure her of my love, my mouth would not form the words that my mind so desperately wanted to say, instead, I said this:

"Roza…love fades, mine has."

_No!_ My mind cried as I watched Roza's face crumble before me, pain written all over it. She stood up, as if to walk toward me, when I noticed, for the first time, the Strigoi behind her. Standing up had alerted them of her location, and try as I might my voice and body would not work, preventing me from warning Roza of the threat behind her or grabbing her and running like I desperately wanted to. Instead, the Strigoi attacked, pulling out guns and fired round after round. The bullets did not harm to me. They didn't even reach me because they were all directed at Roza.

I watched in horror as bullet after bullet pierced her body, the most fatal shot going through her heart. I watched as Roza crumpled to the ground, blood still gushing from the wound, but it wasn't over yet. I watched helplessly as one of the Strigoi approached Roza's body.

"NO! NO GET AWAY FROM HER! DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER. ROZA! ROZA!" I roared, my body still not cooperating with me, but the Strigoi paid no attention to me, instead leaning toward Roza.

The Strigoi reached a hand out, and with a sickening, crunching, squelching sound, plunged his hand into Roza's chest, before ripping out her heart from her chest. My knees gave out, my breath heavy as I felt bile rise in my throat. The Strigoi held up her heart like a trophy, all of them laughing their cold, chilling laughs, paying no attention to my wrecked self.

"Roza! Roza! No! Please! Roza! I'm so sorry, my Milaya! So-so sorry." I sobbed, my body finally working as I crawled helplessly toward her lifeless body. "Roza, Roza,-"

"Roza!" I yelled as I bolted up in my bed.

My room was silent, as always, save for the harsh breaths coming from me. Shakily, I brought my hands up to my face, scrubbing harshly, as if it would erase the horrible nightmare from my head.

It never did. For the past five years my dreams all revolved around Rose Hathaway. Some started out with us happy, some started horrifically, but either way, they always ended with her being taken away from me, leaving me alone with nothing but my cold sweat and regret to keep me company.

I had thought that to forget about Roza and to forget about all the things that I had done to her, I had to stay away from her. When she disappeared I thought that she had made that job easy for me. I was wrong. Every day, everywhere I went, I saw Roza. She was always dancing on the edge of my mind, When I wasn't thinking about what had happened to her, I was seeing her spirit, flitting around Court, or her face in others, I was smelling her gorgeous perfume wafting around me, I was hearing her laugh, teasing me, from all around. I suppose this was my true punishment for all that I have done.

BEEP BEEP BEEP.

I slapped the off button on my alarm and sighed before dragging myself out of bed. My routine for the past few years had been the same for nearly every day: wake up, go to work, then return to my room for another night of restless sleep in my cold bed. Though today there was some variety, all Guardians had an important meeting to attend; apparently the Moroi had finally determined what to do with our rapidly dilapidating numbers. Though why we were letting a selected few who had never experienced any real battle control the fate of the entire Dhampir race was beyond me.

Moroi society was part of what had taken away my Roza from me. Their judgments, prejudices, and rules never gave our relationship a chance of working out and their holier-than-thou attitude was something they held over us Dhampir every day.

I suppose I have grown a tad bitter over the years.

After my customary morning jog and strength workout at the gym, I headed back to my room to shower and change before heading to the meeting.

When I arrived to the chambers where the meeting was being held, I was surprised to see the Queen herself standing at the front of the room next the Hans, who appeared shocked and apprehensive at the same time. The Queen never usually attended these meetings, she would usually pass off her plans to one of her advisors, who would them deliver the message to Hans, who would then deliver it to us.

There was a general hush in the chambers, as Guardians stood nervously to hear our fate, though you could never see it on our faces. The small faction of rebel Guardians stood together, their faces drawn taut at the sight of the Queen.

A few rows in front of me, I spotted auburn hair, a sign of one of the few people I dreaded seeing around Court: Janine Hathaway. She and Rose may not share the same eye or hair color, but their eye shape and bone structure were similar, making it hard to look at her without reminders of Rose and the past flooding my brain. She and Ibrahim Mazur had exhausted their resources trying to look for their missing daughter. They never gave up hope that she was still out there, though rumors at Court suggested otherwise, as some believed that it had been too long since Rose had been heard from to still be alive.

Those were the rumors I refused to believe.

My thoughts were interrupted as the chamber doors shut and the Queen began the show.

"Welcome, all Guardians. I wanted to personally thank you all for our excellent work through these times of hardship. We of the Moroi Council are aware of the growing crisis and its ramifications if we do not act soon. We are, and always will be grateful for the extraordinary service Dhampirs have provided in the past, present, and future."

A few snorts ran throughout the room at that statement, mostly from the rebel faction.

The Queen went on, ignoring the little reactions from us Guardians.

"However, we all need help at times, and we are currently in one of those times. The Strigoi have unfortunately devised new strategies and methods of attack on our people. I am aware of how hard the Guardians have been working to keep not only the threat at bay, but to keep the Moroi calm and safe so that as a society, we do not crumble and fall to paranoia and fear, and for that, you have my eternal gratitude," Tatiana said, looking around the room as if she expected us to start falling to our knees to show our gratitude and loyalty to her. All she received were blank faces. However, she went on. "And to show my faith in the Guardians' capability to serve us faithfully, and to the best of their abilities," she paused, glancing at the rebel group, "I have decided to start a new program. This programs will be similar to a study abroad program. You will all be sent to an institution to learn new skills and training-"

"Are she saying that our current skill set is crap?!"

"What the hell did I spend eighteen years of my life preparing for?"

"I am not going back to any Academy! I hated the experience enough the first time."

"Where the hell is she sending us?"

"I bet it's a trap. She's sending us to slaughter!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Hans' voice boomed out, immediately quieting the outbursts from the crowd. Quite frankly, I could not blame them. Did the Queen really have no faith in our abilities that she wanted to send us off to be re-educated? And what institution would she send us to? The Guardian training techniques were rarely ever changed, where would we learn these "new skills," as the Queen had put it?

Hans nodded at Tatiana, a silent apology, though he was just as surprised as the rest of us. Up ahead I saw Janine Hathaway shoot the Queen a fleeting look of death, a look that was soon replaced by her Guardian mask.

"This is not to insult the years of hard work and dedication that you all have put into your Guardian training, please understand that. However, the arrangements have been made for this program already, so we will be proceeding with this new cause. Now, I know you all are wondering where this new training will take place, for that, I will turn it over to my great nephew." Tatiana declared, sweeping aside allowing Adrian Ivashkov to part through her advisors and saunter to the front.

"Oh God."

"This is all they could come up with? The crazy drunk has a plan?"

"Moroi Court as gone to hell."

Adrian Ivashkov cleared his throat, cutting off any more snide remarks. The man had indeed gotten odder as the years had gone by. He had embarked, with Guardian Castile and an Alchemist girl, on a trip to find Rose, as per the request of Abe Mazur. They had come back just as empty handed as I had, though they did not seem to be bothered by that fact as everyone else. He was one of the last people to see Roza before she left, a fact he enjoyed to hold over me. At times I would catch him smiling smugly, almost maniacally, at me before Edison would drag him away. He and Edison would also disappear for periods time, never saying where they were going even if they were gone for days at a time. One Guardian swore he saw the two of them walking out of a wall, and claimed Ivashkov had honed his Spirit to expand to a new, dangerous level, though everyone else believed that Guardian Miller should simply not be put on the night shift anymore.

"Friends, Guardians, and more Guardians, lend me your ears!" Ivashkov started as the entire crowd did a simultaneous eye roll, "I have here a letter, sent to me by the institutions that have agreed to our little experiment at Court. Allow me to read it," Ivashkov once again cleared his throat and their started the actual reading part.

_"To Queen Tatiana Ivashkov, the Moroi Council, and the Guardians,_

_We have heard of your situation, and would like to extend our deepest condolences and considerations to the Dhampir and Guardian community. We are aware of how dramatically the Strigoi population has gotten worse over time due to improper planning and leadership on the part of many. We believe that your situation may be greatly remedied through some assistance. Though we can simply send some of our people to assist and bolster the Guardian numbers and morale, we believe in the teachings of the great philosopher, Lao Tzu. It was he who said, ""If you give a man a fish you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish you feed him for a lifetime."_

_It is through this wise advice that we extend an invitation to all of your Guardians. As an Agent of ours has informed us, the Guardian training of yours is on a completely different level than ours. If they decide to come and train at our facilities, they would not only relearn basic combat, but they would perfect it as well. They would also go beyond the combat that they have been accustomed to, to include some weapons training as well. These classes will be taught by professionals, the best in their craft, as the Guardians deserve to learn from the best. Room and boarding would also be provided. The only thing the Guardians would need to bring is a bag of clothing. This would not only be a wonderful opportunity for the Guardians and the Moroi, but for everyone involved, as we would be forging a new connection between all parties involved and perhaps even see some familiar faces._

_If you would like to accept our offer, please be ready in one week. Please report to St. Vladimir's Academy by March 29, where further instructions will be given._

_Thank You and Best Regards,_

_The Elite Council and The Guardians of Caelum"_

* * *

**Here we go guys! The ball is really starting to roll now, and I PROMISE that the next chapter will be more entertaining than the past few ones have been. Alot more action will be coming, and some reunions as well! That will be fun indeed...**

**I will try to update mid week as I have some time off this week, but do not hold me to that, as the next chapter is going to be a long one!**

**Until next time, I shall leave you with another random question:**

**Does soap get dirty?**

**Looking forward to your reviews!**


	6. Maim, Not Kill

**Well, even I didn't expect an update this early, but I do have a week off from school. Now, this chapter was meant to be longer, but I decided to cut it in half so you guys could get an update faster. Hope you enjoy it!**

**Special shoutout to Rose-Hathaway-Belikova, she had some great predictions that may or may not come true…**

**Also, shoutouts to Dream Craziness, claire3loves3music, and DrunkenSage for answering the random question…I truly feel like that question is one of the mysteries of the universe!**

**And last but not least, a special virtual hug and cookie for all who have reviewed so far! I love reading them and please keep them coming! Now…on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I own the plot and idea. I do not own Vampire Academy. All rights go to Richelle Mead.**

* * *

**Eddie Castile**

_**One Week Later**_

I waited at the airstrip with the rest of the Guardians for the planes to finish fueling up. Today we would be leaving Court for St. Vladimir's Academy. Was I excited to go back to high school? Hell no. However, I was excited for what would come out of our trip to St. Vlad's. After Adrian and Sydney had contacted Rose looking for help, Rose responded that she would talk with her bosses and see what would happen. What the Elite and Guardians had come up with was better than I had imagined. I love visiting Rose and Christian and the rest of the gang in Caelum. I don't know, there was just something special about the city in the other realm; it was just so much more open and welcoming than Court. The Elite and Guardians there had combat training and weapons training that made us look like we were still stuck in the Stone Age, which I guess we were, and I was chomping at the bit to get first-hand experience with the Elite and Guardians of Caelum. The other Guardians had been skeptical of the plan that had been made; some because they didn't see why we needed more training, some didn't trust the Moroi to be competent enough to come up with a plan to help us, but they had signed up in droves anyway simply because they wanted to get the hell out of Court.

Suddenly Adrian appeared next to me, toting along his bags. Of course he was not going to participate in the training, but he was coming along with us to "chaperone" and "watch his amazing plan come to fruition," which basically was a cover up for the fact that he wanted a vacation in a place where he and Sydney could freely display their relationship.

"Excited?" He muttered as he surveyed the huge crowd of Guardians milling about while we waited.

"Hell yes," I replied, "I needed a break from this hellhole. No offense." I added as an after-thought.

He waved off my apology. "So, you know if he…"

"Yup. He's coming toward the airstrip right now." I responded, nodding toward the tall figure a few yards away from us.

Dimitri Belikov stood rigidly by one of the planes, as usual not speaking to anyone, with his Guardian mask firmly in place as he scanned the place over. When is eyes passed over us, Adrian shot him a friendly wave and smile though Belikov simply stared back, part questioning and part annoyed, before his face became blank again.

Adrian chuckled, ceasing his waving. "That poor bastard's about to be in for a huge surprise."

I chuckled, thinking of Rose. "The biggest one of his life."

* * *

**Rose Mazur**

I double checked and tripled checked the plan over, scrutinizing each detail carefully. The meeting room was slowing filling up with the teams I had handpicked to go today.

"Hey Rose!"

"What's up Rose!"

"How was your break?"

I smiled back at my colleagues and chatted with them, enjoying the loose, free atmosphere of the Elite. Sure, when we were out on missions, out on the job, we were the most badass around, but when we were simply hanging out at HQ, we could simply be chill, act our ages. I continued to listen to everyone's vacations until I spotted Ben entering the room.

I smirked and he smirked as he made his way toward me at the front of the room. He leaned against the wall next to me, and the two of us had our customary stare down, or as the students here called it when they thought we weren't listening, the signature Mazur and Noble eye porn. Yep, Ben and I could add that to our list of talents. Eventually, though, one of us would break the silence, and today, because I needed to get the meeting underway, I caved first.

"Did you miss my loud American self?" I teased.

Ben chuckled, his grey eyes filling with mirth, "Love, I missed you so much that I went to the American consulate and loitered around, just praying to the Angel that one of the security guards would come out and yell at me in that loud, obnoxious American accent I adore so much. And thank the Angel they eventually did! I was on the verge of going through withdrawals!"

I snorted before reaching up and pinching his cheek, "My poor baby! Withdrawals are not fun! I almost broke down not having an English accent to tease me day in and day out. I had to keep one of the BBC channels on constantly, lest I have a complete emotional break!"

Ben tutted, slipping an arm around my shoulders while I rested my head on his shoulder, our customary position, "My poor darling, it's all going to be ok now. I'm back, and I aim to tease…and please." He added with a wink before the two of us busted out into laughter over how ridiculous we can become sometimes.

"Ok, go sit your English ass down, I got a meeting to start." I choked out between laughter, pushing him away, toward his seat with the rest of the team.

Sticking two fingers in my mouth, I let out a loud whistle, garnering the attention of all in the room. "Ok guys, here's the low down on what's going on, I gotta make this fast 'cause we have a portal to catch in fifteen mintues…"

_**One Week Earlier**_

"…_and as much as I consider myself an Elite Agent, the Guardians were a huge part of my life and I cannot turn my back on them, we cannot." I finished, looking at the fifteen people before me. Some of them had thoughtful, pensive looks, others were more positive._

"_We have always admired your loyalty, Agent Mazur," Heidi Matthews, one of my bosses, said, smiling at me._

"_Not every one would volunteer to help the very people who have wronged them," noted David Reid, yet another one of my bosses, and Heidi's partner._

"_They didn't wrong me," I replied, "well, not all of them at least."_

_The Council smiled at that, which was a good sign they were going to at least think about my request. I knew this was weird, an Agent asking her bosses to do something that we technically had no connection to, but the Moroi and Guardians at Court did need help, and the Elite never refused help to anyone who needed it. Plus, some of the Council and other Agents had personal ties to the Moroi and Guardians, even though they too had left that world like I had, they would not let that world crumble._

"_Well, Agent Mazur, you are not the first to come to us about this. Several others have come to us with similar pleas to help the Guardians." Peter Savalti, another Council member and yes, yet another one of my bosses said to me._

"_The Guardians here have come up with a tentative plan to assist their counterparts; I don't see why we can't offer our assistance was well." Gabriela Courcos said thoughfully, her fellow Council members nodding along._

_Ok, so the Guardians here have already made plans to assist the other Guadians, and the Elite are willing to offer help. We barely have any ties to the other Guardians but we already know how to start to remedy their situation while the Royal Moroi Council sat around on their asses arguing about the fate of Moroi. Personally, I feel like that shows the vast differences in leadership between here and there._

"_We'll of course offer our services to the Guardians, and they would be fools to turn it down. We'll go ahead and make the proper arrangements, though, Agent Mazur, we would like two simple favors from you," said Heidi, turning to look at me expectantly._

"_Yes?" _

"_One, you have contacts at Court yes? Would you mind helping us send a message to Court before you leave for your vacation? Yes? Perfect." Agent Reid added as he saw my nod, accepting the request._

"_And two, when we begin the program we would like for you to be the team leader for the first phase of the plan." Agent Courcos said with a slight smirk, meaning she knew I would enjoy being team leader for the first part._

"_Of course," I nodded again, actually getting excited. _

"_Excellent, we will contact you when we need the message delivered and when the plans have been put down on paper. However, for now, Agent Mazur, go enjoy your vacation. You're lucky; Scotland is beautiful this time of year." Agent Matthews smiled at me, the other Council member following suit._

"_Thank you," I said gratefully before walking out of their chambers._

"Okay guys," I call out as I saw the last few people on the team come through the portal, "remember the plan!"

I grinned up at the great walls of St. Vladimir's Academy before turning to Ben. He nodded before grabbing my hand, the two of us squeezing before letting go, our little custom.

"The goal is to maybe maim a little! Not kill!"

* * *

**Dimitri Belikov**

After the four hour long rise and the hour long drive from the airport, we had finally made it to St. Vladimir's Academy. Headmistress Kirova and Alberta had greeted us and shown us our rooms before assigning us rooms for duty.

"Seriously, this is our training? Guarding classes?"

"I knew this was a joke."

"This is what we get for going along with their stupid plans."

My fellow Guardians grumbled as we went off to our assigned rooms. My first class was Bodyguard Theory, of course taught by Rose's favorite teach, Stan Alto. Not much had changed through the years, the students were still looking rather bored, and Alto rambled on, his lectures taken directly from the textbook. I could see why Roza would frequently fall asleep or goof off with Castile in this class.

We took our places along the walls of the classroom, alert but hidden. What puzzled me though, was why three of us had been assigned to this room. When Guardian Miller, Guardian Hathaway Guardian Castile, and I had arrived to the classroom, there were already four Guardians there, all already in Guardian mode, settled next to the windows of the classroom. Why would one classroom need eight Guardians?

I brushed off the thought, Strigoi numbers were rising, of course they would want more protection for the students in our time of near crisis.

The class was rather uneventful, with the students trying not to fall asleep and Guardian Alto droning on. Mercifully though, class was almost over, and Alto was winding down his lecture.

"…as a Guardian you cannot be afraid. You cannot allow the fear to get to you, to shut you down. As a Guardian, your fears are second to the life of your Moroi. Any questions?" Alto asked as he finished.

"Yes? In the back," he squinted, trying to see the person to who the hand belonged to.

"Are you afraid Guardian Alto?" The person asked rather quietly, causing the rest of us to strain to hear her.

"Well we all have our fears; it is a part of us, so yes. Of course I have fears," said Alto.

"Are you afraid of the big bad wolf?" The person asked again. That voice…I would know that voice anywhere…but it couldn't be, why on Earth would she be here?

"I'm sorry, wha- Oh no.." Alto trailed off, apparently coming to some sort of realization. The students in the class suddenly appear to wake up, excited whispers running amongst the class.

"She's here, she's really here!"

"Does that mean they're here too?"

"Oh my God! Rose Mazur!"

The last student's comment rang loudly in my ears. I felt as if the shock that was coursing through my body was weakening me and strengthening me simultaneously. My world started and stopped simultaneously, it was as if the world, my world at least, had been knocked off its axis and then set back, but correctly this time. My mind shut down and then started up again, but now…now I felt alive. For the first time in years I feel alive, like life had meaning again. Roza. Roza was here! My heart started beating faster and my eyes became manic trying to find her amongst the class.

"I said," the voice rang out again, but this time clearer and stronger; and you could clearly hear the beautiful teasing lilt. I was starting to believe I would never hear that teasing tone ever again, but then Roza, my glorious Roza stood up in her seat with a great smirk and said, "are you afraid of the big bad wolf?"

I didn't even have time to comprehend the odd question before Alto cursed, loudly.

"Ah shit." Stan groaned, right before the Guardians stationed by the windows flung them open, and several large balls of growling fur, wolves, the size of horses jumped into the room.

* * *

**See you all next time! **


	7. Reunited and It Hurts So Much

**Reviews are really good incentives to write. :)**

**I just want to say I'm not really in love with this chapter. I don't think I quite got Dimitri's voice right and I don't really think the fight scenes are anything special. *shrugs* But I wanted to get something up for you guys a little early, so, please bear with me on this chapter. **

**Also, in response to a Guest's review: The main plot of the story is pretty simple, I think, it's just the details that are kinda hard to follow, and I understand. So, Rose left after "Love fades, Mine Has." She and Christian are sent by Alberta to Caelum, the capital city of Lux, an alternate dimension. Fast forward five years, Rose is kicking ass at her job at the Elite, which is basically like being a Guardian, but with more options on what to do. So things are going great for Rose, not so great with the Moroi world. Strigoi are rising and Dhampir are falling. Sydney calls Rose and Rose goes to plead with her bosses to lend some assistance to the Guardians, and they agree. So now worlds of the Guardians/Moroi are going to collide with the world of Lux, and things are going to go down.**

**I hope that clarified the plotline. If it doesn't just tell me and I'll try to answer any questions you have in the next chapter! Now, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I own the plot and idea. I do not own Vampire Academy. All rights go to Richelle Mead.**

* * *

**Dimitri Belikov**

Chaos ensued as students shrieked excitedly while Alto was furiously barking for backup into his earpiece. Through the earpiece we heard Alberta yelling our commands. "We have intruders on campus. They seem to be after a group of visiting Moroi we have visiting the campus. We need all Guardians on deck!" I pulled out my stake and saw Guardian Hathaway and Guardian Miller do the same before we collectively realized the stakes would be futile against the wolves. The wolves however ignored us completely as they leaped up the stairs and over us and into the hallway. Too late, I realized the Guardians by the windows were not actually Guardians of the school, and that Roza was gone as well. Running into the hallway, we saw mayhem.

People, non-Guardian intruders and Guardians streamed into the hallway, some running, some beginning to fight while excited students crowded round the doorways to watch. The intruders all wore black garb that looked specially designed for fighting and a pendant with some kind of crest on it that resembled the letter E. They were also quickly overtaking the Guardians. They fighting techniques were a blend of the familiar and the foreign. They would use moves that we knew like the back of our hands, moves we studied for years. Then they would suddenly perform a maneuver that we never studied, would not even dream of attempting, and did not know was possible.

And in the middle of the chaos was Roza, furiously shouting out orders.

"Josh! You, Leigha and Nia to lead the search for our charges! Find them, check the Academy dungeons, the secret passages, the common rooms, all of it!" She shrieked as a dark haired man nodded and began yelling orders into his own earpiece.

"Jay!" Rose yelled, and out of the crowd, bounded out one of the wolves. "You guys use your senses and help the search team! The rest of us will help clear the path!" The wolf nodded, actually nodded, and let out a series of sharp barks before running down the hallway, several other wolves following.

"Everyone else," Rose yelled into the earpiece, ducking as a Guardian went sailing over her, before slamming into the wall with a great bang, "keep doing what you're doing!" She said with a smile before turning and running down the hallway.

Without hesitation, I followed. How could this happen? Why would Rose end up associating with these people?

She ran down the hallways while our Guardians fought against her people. As I ran after her, I caught sight of some of the intruders. Some resembled Dhampirs, and I would have mistaken them for Dhampirs if it weren't for the strange markings on their body and amazing strength and agility. Some looked human, but were yelling out phrases in odd languages and carried around…wands? I didn't have time to ponder that as I heard a scream from my left. Turning, I was met with a shocking sight.

The young Guardian who had screamed was holding the arm of the creature in front of her. She looked like she had put up quite a fight too, her uniform ripped and her breaths heavy and uneven. She turned pale, looking back and forth from the arm to the person in front of her, waiting patiently. I saw Castile silently making his way to the pair with his stake drawn. He attempted make the attack, but right as he was ready to stake the creature, it turned, and with a rather bored expression on his face, performed a single forearm block. Simply from the block, Castile was knocked back onto the floor.

The creature retrieved his arm from the still traumatized Guardian and held it back into place. A few seconds later, after a few sickening fusing sounds, the arm was reattached. After stretching his newly reattached arm out, he turned, with his red eyes. to Castile, tutting.

"She rips off my arm and you try to sneak attack me. How rude." He grinned before running off.

I attempted to go after the creature, stake drawn, but felt a presence coming toward me. I just had time to turn around as a hard body slammed into me, shoving me against the wall. Turning around to see my attacker, I was met with a pair of red eyes, and by reflex I shoved my stake into her heart. However, instead of crumpling to the ground, dead, the female simply laughed. She stood up, and I realized her eyes weren't red rimmed, but the complete iris was red. However, they weren't hostile; they seemed to be…amused, in fact, as she stood up, the stake still in her heart. She pulled out the stake and crushed it in her hand.

"Nice aim," the creature grinned as the hole that my stake made in her heart closed, healing itself, "maybe you guys aren't totally incompetent," she laughed then blurred down the next hallway, taking down two Guardians this time and sending them flying toward me. Janine Hathaway and a younger Guardian landed right next to me, the three of us a rather unceremonious heap. Suddenly, through the earpiece came, "They've already got to the Moroi in the common rooms, but I've got a visual on Mazur, she's heading toward the holding cells."

I sprang up, my body still aching, my head still slightly disoriented. "This is Belikov. I've got her."

And I ran.

I ran though the hallways, vaguely hearing Guardian Hathaway say through the earpiece that she was coming as backup, but my focus was getting to Rose. I ran past a few fights still going on, but overall, the intruders had pretty cleared the hallways of any threat as most of the Guardians were had gone ahead after Rose or were sprawled about the hallways, unconscious . I got to the ground level headed toward the secret underground passage way to the dungeons. Winding down the hallways, I finally got to the room that housed the trapdoor and threw open the door. Looking out the window I saw that most of the action had moved outside. A ruckus was coming from the church, with a confused looking Father Andrew standing next to it. Suddenly, the doors of the church were thrown open, and a huge mob made up of the intruders and a group of Moroi ran out. Rose was running away from the church, headed toward the cells with a man, and the two of them had quite a group of Guardians after them.

"Go! Get them to safety, you know where! Tell the others we'll join you soon. We got one more to hit!" Rose screamed at the group, a willowy young woman nodding then began leading the group to the woods.

I threw open the trap door leading to the passage way and jumped in. As I began running toward the cells, other Guardians began jumping into the passage with me and together we all hurried to the holding cells. After several twists and turns, the trapdoor to the cells could be seen. We reached the door and Guardian Hathaway kicked open the door, only to duck down as a ball of fire was sent her way.

There, in front of us, in one of the holding cells, was Christian Ozera.

He had two more fire balls in his hands, and was poised to throw them before he saw who had come through. His eyes widened as he took in Guardian Hathaway and I in front, the fireballs diminishing in size a bit, though the smirk on his face grew.

The boy was also not alone. There were more Moroi in the cells with him, at least twenty. These were the special Moroi visitors Alberta was talking about? As a Guardian you were required to know all the important Moroi, the royals. However, most of the Moroi in the cells, I had never seen or heard of.

They stared back at us, with various emotions, and various reactions. Some simply stared blankly, some smug, some angrily, and some were starting to form balls of fire, water, and air.

"Okay, I don't know most of you in here, and I have no idea what is going on here at this Academy, but if-"Guardian Hathaway's comment was cut short by the door to the cells being kicked open. Roza and the man stood in the doorway at the top of the stairs, both breathing heavily and a little roughed up, but their overall state was much better than most of the Guardians'.

"Four three." The man said to Roza with an English accent. He was average height, a little more than six feet I would say, and leanly muscled. His sharp gray eyes were piercing and observant as his gaze ran over the Moroi in the cells and our group of Guardians in the back.

Roza rolled her eyes. "Three three and we share the last one."

"Deal," the man grinned, and together, they struck.

They leaped down the stairs with amazing agility and came right toward us. Of course I knew Roza's combat skills were not lacking, but the man with her was impressive as well. There were five Guardians in total and by pure Guardian instinct we struck back. The next few minutes were a blur of punches and kicks, blocking, dodging and fighting. The two youngest Guardians were taken out easily and Roza and the man were on Guardian Miller now. I made a move to assist the man when I was thrown back into the wall and held there, but not by a person, by wind. Guardian Hathaway soon joined me. As we struggled against to get free from our invisible chains, I notice the Moroi still in the cells. Christian Ozera and a few other fire users were attempting to melt the bars, but to no avail. A couple of water users were tossing water back and forth, no, wait, it was a blade made of water, and they were trying to slice through the bars with it. That was certainly not taught at an Academy I knew. And when my eyes slid over to some Air users, I could see why I was rendered immobile. It was taking a great deal of their energy, but they were restraining us with the air, to assist Roza and the man. Speaking of Roza…

"Urrrhg," groaned Guardian Miller as he slammed into the piece of wall next to me from the impact of Roza's friend's roundhouse kick, slumping over unconscious.

Great. Just great.

Suddenly, the air restraints were gone and Guardian Hathaway and I were free. We both held our hands up, a peace gesture.

"Roza…" I started, only to dodge as her punch was directed to my shoulder.

"Don't hesitate, isn't that right Comrade?" She grinned at me, and before I could relish the sound of hearing her voice again, she struck, leaving me no choice but to strike back. It was just like our training days back, we lunged, we kicked, we deflected; expect Rose had grown and had somehow learned a few new moves that were not working in my favor I thought was I grunted, falling to the ground as Rose struck my solar plexus, and then struck several other nerves in quick succession, rendering my immobile.

Roza didn't even pause to look at me or make some kind of witty remark as she turned and assisted the man with her mother. Guardian Hathaway was putting up a fierce fight and was managing to hold her own against the man, until Roza joined. The two worked together flawlessly. They seemed to know what the other was thinking, as if they could communicate with simply their eyes. Their moves mirrored each other's perfectly, one always seeming to know the other's next move. Together the two worked together to take down Guardian Hathaway, with the man restraining her and Roza head butting her, causing her to stumble and crush to the ground unceremoniously.

With us out of the way, the two turned their attention to the Moroi. Ozera and the other fire users had not managed to burn down the cells bar, but they had made a dent in them large enough for a human to go through. However, Roza had different ideas.

"Clear a path!" She yelled, then threw a small object toward the back wall. The object landed and attached to the wall and immediately started blinking a red light furiously until…

BOOM

A huge portion of the back wall was blown open and the Moroi were ushered out of the cells. Right on the other side of that wall was the perimeter of the forest. I struggled to move, though some feeling was returning to my body. I could see Guardian Hathaway coming around and the two younger Guardians had already come to, and were trying to get their bearings. Finally, sensation returned to me and I stood, stumbling a lit; just in time to witness Roza slip through the bars and run through the opening and into the forest with everyone else.

No. No, I was not letting her get away this time.

Slipping through the bars, I joined the group of Guardians following the group into the forest. I ran past other Guardians and soon was at the front of the pack. Roza and her group were ahead of me by at least a quarter of a mile, but I pushed on, refusing to let my woman slip through my fingers again. As we ran deeper into the forest I could hear Roza yell again, something that sounded like, "Go, guys, go! We're all here! Start jumping!"

Jumping?

It was then I heard the sound of running water. A waterfall.

I pushed myself to run harder, the other Guardians struggling to keep up. The sound of the water was getting closer and closer and it was getting harder to see Roza though the thick foliage. The sound of heavy footsteps drove me to run faster, and as we exited the thick foliage into less dense foliage, we could see footprints. And they were indeed leading to the waterfall. A couple yard later the foliage was cleared and I could see Roza. She and the man were bringing up the rear in the group, and up ahead I could see even more people congregated at the top of the waterfall.

"Did you not hear me?! GO! Jump!" Roza screeched, and people began jumping. The Moroi, the intruders, all of them.

"Roza!" I couldn't let her jump. What was she thinking?

She didn't look back as she ran toward the top of the waterfall, but her partner did. He turned back to her and seemed to say something, but she ignored him, and focused on getting more people to jump, not leaving anyone behind. She was only a couple yards away now…

"Roza!" I called again.

Once again she ignored me. She and the man were to only two left on the cliff now. She looked back this time when I called her, but then turned her attention back to the man next to her. My heart stopped at I watched Roza offer the man her hand. He accepted, and they shared a smile before they turned and jumped, disappearing from my view.

"No!" I roared as I finally made it to the cliff, seconds too late. I could hear my fellow Guardians huffing as they too arrived at the cliff Peering over it, I immediately noticed something strange. There were no bodies in the water, no splashing sounds, nothing. The water did not seem interrupted at all.

"Wha-?"

"Where did they go?"

"What the hell just happened?"

"Attention Guardians," Alberta's voice rang through the earpiece, "please return to the Academy and assemble in the gym for a meeting. Now."

"I did not sign up for this bullshit!"

"I just want to know what the fuck is going on!"

Guardians grumbled as they began to head back to the Academy. I was still stuck, staring at the water. What happened? How could a group of at least fifty people just disappear like that? Before I could think any more on that however, I felt a tug on my sleeve. Looking back, I found Guardian Hathaway, still holding her head and looking rather tired. She wanted to stay as much as I did, but were needed back at the Academy. With a last look at the waterfall, we headed back.

When we finally made it to St. Vladimir's gym, we found the place packed with disgruntled Guardians, all complaining loudly.

"Reunited and it hurts so much." Guardian Castile smirked at me as he saw me rubbing the area between my shoulders were Roza had struck. The man looked just as bad as the rest of us, but he was not angry or confused like the rest of us. His countenance revealed to me that he knew what had just transpired.

Guardian Petrov stood in front on a little makeshift stage, smirking. I was then I realized, taking in her appearance, that she did not partake in the event that just happened.

"What is going on here!?"

"Those were not a select group of Moroi! I did not know any of them!"

"What the fuck was that?!"

"THAT," Guardian began in a firm, loud voice, instantly quieting the crowd, "was a test."

"What the hell kind of test was that?"

"This is not funny! We are not here to amuse you!"

"We are in a crisis and you people are playing games!?"

"That was a test," Guardian Petrov reiterated, "that you all failed. Miserably."

* * *

**Well there you go! **

**Also, I need some head for the next chapter. Do you guys want the next chapter to be Rose's point of view of the fight because I can see how this chapter could be confusing? Or do you want to move on with the story and I can explain in flashback? Tell me what you think! **

**As always, please review! Until next time, XOXO**


	8. Down the Rabbit Hole

**Welcome back guys!**

**Disclaimer: I own the plot and idea. I do not own Vampire Academy. All rights go to Richelle Mead.**

* * *

**Rose Hathaway**

Ben and I were met with cheers and whoops as we came through the portal and into the Council Meeting room. Elite Agents and Moroi alike laughed, the adrenaline still coursing through everyone after our little mission.

"_That's it? We just break in and kick some ass?" grinned Lev as I finished explaining the mission to everyone._

"_Basically, yes. We're testing the Guardians, we need assess them, see what they know before we can set up the classes for them." I nodded, grinning along with everyone else at the thought of kicking some Guardian ass._

_The cheers and excitement grew and soon, we were getting a bit rowdy. "Wait! Wait!" I called out, quieting the crowd a bit, "there's one more thing!"_

_That comment was met with groans all around._

"_No, no, it's not bad. It's just that to allow the Council to see what we are dealing with, we will all be fitted with cameras," I said while showing everyone the dime sized camera we would attach to our shirts. "And, one last thing, to make sure that we actually do what we need to do and not fuck around …they gave them some of our charges…" I said, clicking on the screen behind me, where we were met with the faces of several Moroi, not actually under any distress, in fact, they were actually smiling and waving at the small hand held camera I presumed the Council had given them._

"_Seriously?"_

"_That's it?"_

"_Come on! Challenge us!"_

_Several of my colleagues laughed as we got up and started preparing._

"Everyone back? Everyone alright?" I called out, my question being met with affirmatives all around, the positive buzz from the mission was tangible as we all laughed and chatted. We were all pretty ok, we all made it back, and the worse injuries on our side were a few bruises. Looking around, I took inventory of the team…

Eleven witches and wizards. Check.

Fifteen werewolves. Check.

Nine Dhampirs. Check.

Twelve Nephilim. Check.

Twenty two Vampires. Check.

"Well, considering that only took twenty minutes, and all of you are still conscious, I think we already have a general idea of how much training we need to give them, but we still need to watch the tapes and confer with the Guardians. Thank you all for your work today." Agent Reid smiled, the rest of the Council echoing his sentiment.

We agents started to leave, chattering among themselves, heading back to our designated assignments. Ben and I walked about of the Council room, where the rest of our team plus Christian were waiting.

"Nice job guys." I greeted, "You okay Sparky?" I grinned at Christian.

"I spent my morning in a jail cell at St. Vlad, how do you think it was? Thank god Dom had Flappy Bird on his phone," he snarked.

"Oh you poor little Moroi, stuck in a cage for one measly hour with your friends, being forced to play a stupid game. Hey, I had to head-butt my own mom. I think there's a special place in hell for people like me!" I rolled my eyes as everyone else laughed.

"Most fun I've had in a while," Dianna grinned.

"The look on their faces when the werewolves jumped in, priceless…" cackled Lev.

"I didn't realize that the Guardians never had experience with werewolves before, I would have gone with a more subtle entry." Jay grinned wolfishly.

We all cracked up at that.

There was no subtle when it came to werewolves the size of horses.

"But are you okay?" Josh asked seriously after our laughter subsided.

"_Did you not hear me?! GO! Jump!" I screeched, and I saw Josh nod before ushering people toward the edge of the cliff to jump. One by one, Moroi and Elite Agents began to hurl themselves off the cliff, and into the portal. _

"_Roza!"_

_The familiar Russian accent called out, the wonderful tenor combined with beautiful nickname I had not heard in years making my heart jump. However, this only served to drive me faster toward the cliff. Maybe it was because I was on a mission, and nothing got between me and completely a mission, maybe it was because I didn't want to turn around and properly face Dimitri Belikov after all these years, either way, I didn't look back as Ben and I ran toward the top of the waterfall. _

_Ben turned to me, "Love, you kicked his ass and then paralyzed the man, the most you can do is spare him a glance." _

"_Roza!" I heard him call out again._

_Ignoring both men, I watched Josh and Christian ahead. Both were alternating looking at me and looking at Dimitri. Christian's ice blue eyes and Josh's warm brown eyes both met mine, concern in both of them. "Jump guys! Go!" I called, and reluctantly, they both turn toward the cliff. A few seconds later, they were gone._

_Now Ben and I were the only two left on the cliff._

"_Roza!" He called out again, his voice getting closer._

_I looked back this time, catching a look at the gorgeous but frantic face I had so dearly missed…but now wasn't the time for reunions._

_I then turned my attention back to the man beside me. I smiled at bit at the familiar feeling, a good, warm, feeling. Ben and I, together and okay after yet another crazy adventure. Mazur and Noble. Noble and Mazur. Just the way it's been for the past five years. Perfect, absolutely perfect._

_Holding my hand out to Ben, I said, "Jump with me Sweetheart?"_

_His warm yet rough hand intertwined with mine as he said, "Anytime, anyplace Love. You never need to ask, been telling that for years now." Sharing a smile, we jumped, taking the plunge that would lead us back home._

I smiled at the eleven people before me, all looking at me with varying shades of concern in their eyes. Over the years my team and I had inevitably bonded, growing closer and closer, the result of which had given me not only excellent colleagues, but the awesome friends I never thought I could find again after I left Lissa.

"I'm fine guys, especially since we kicked some major ass. You all know that kicking ass always makes me feel better," I grinned.

Some of my team smiled, but the concern still lingered.

"Hey, if I saw my ex-boyfriend, whom I never really resolved things with, after five years and the first thing I was forced to do was to kick his ass, I would feel better too," Isabelle began.

"But afterward I'd wonder if beating his ass really was the best way to go about it," Jay continued.

"And if I were said ex-boyfriend, I would be kicking myself for letting a woman such as yourself go. I would try go and try to talk to her…" Denis trailed off.

"Though I would be careful…the girl may have some friends, who know how to kick ass" Josh grinned.

"Who are willing to have a little "chat" with him were he to try to pull something to try to hurt the feelings of said amazing girl…"Leigha finished.

Truly, it really did surprise and touch me how much I had opened up to them, and they in turn cared for me, my own little band of protectors. The thought made me smile.

"Guys, thank you so much for your concern, and your thinly veiled threats," I cast a look at all of them, and they had the nerve to grin back at me, "but you guys know me. I'm a big girl now, and sooner or later I gotta put on my big girl panties and face the big, scary Russian," I joked.

The team laughed, but I could see the slight hesitation in their eyes. They would be on guard around a certain Russian starting tomorrow when we would be returning and retrieving the Guardians.

"Remember," Christian suddenly piped up, "my offer always stands."

I rolled my eyes, Christian's offer to set Dimitri on fire was one he had been offering every year on my birthday. His twisted mind called it a bonus present. However, it was sweet to see Fire Boy care. If you had told me seven years ago that one day, Lissa Dragomir would be out of my life and I would consider Christian Ozera a brother, granted the annoying brother you wanted your parents to return to the hospital, but a brother none the less.

The team began to break up, all of us needing to get back to our designated assignments. Christian left to go do whatever he was doing today, shooting me one last reassuring look over his shoulder.

Ben and I began to head toward the Elite Academy campus, which was located one block away from Elite HQ. I looped my arm through his, and looked up at the man I've shared so much of myself with over the past five years, my anchor. I knew he would be able to see the nerves and slight panic they held.

"Hey, hey, hey. It's all going to be fine, ok love? We'll take it one day at a time, just like how we've been it for the past five years. And if anything goes wrong, we can kick ass or you can finally take Chris up on his little offer," he grinned as I slapped his arm, "either way, you are not doing this alone. You have me, and Chris, and the team, and everyone at the theater, and the whole bloody Elite standing with you, alright? Can I promise you the proverbial shit absolutely will not hit the fan at all when he's here? No, but I can promise you that you have a lot of people on Team Rose who will be there for you should you need it."

I smiled up at my handsome Ben as he finished his little speech. He knew me too well. Honestly, I was a terrified. In a short twenty four hours I would be thrust back into a world with Dimitri Belikov, and I wasn't sure if I would handle it. Every stolen moment, every Zen life lesson, every kiss, every touch, I've kept them all with me throughout the years, good or bad, I've remembered them all. It's the curse, or maybe blessing, depending on how you see it, of love. Ben was right, it was all going to be alright. I was going to have to train my ex-boyfriend, not step into the eight ring of hell. Besides, Ben would be there with me. As much as there was a part of that was completely freaking out right now, there was also a part that was screaming and yelling and bouncing off the walls in excitement over the prospect of showing off some of my Elite skills. I'll be alright, I'm Rose Hathaway. I expect nothing less of myself than that.

I wrapped my arms around Ben, and he wrapped his around me, and together we headed off to face the remainder of the day together.

* * *

**Dimitri Belikov**

_24 hours later_

Guardians looked around warily as we entered the Missoula International Airport and spread out as to not attract any attention to ourselves, as if expecting another "test." Quite honestly, we were all too tired, physically and mentally to put up with another one of those so soon.

_Enraged Guardians shouted up at Alberta, who held a cool smile on her face. She had just finished explaining what happened, and needless to say, we weren't really happy. Of course the fact that we had taken a beating, physically and mentally, was not helping. For one, we did not know who the Elite or the Guardians of Lux were, let alone where this Lux was, though the name and recent ass-kicking implied a degree of greatness in their respective organizations. _

"_The Elite and the Guardians of Lux have generously offered their help, you all would be fools not to accept it. The Elite sent some of their people here today to assess your skills, and one does not need to be a psychic to know their reaction to your skills," she said, critically eying the damaged state we were in. "Now, I suggest you all go get some rest, you'll need it if you're going to be training Elite and New Guardian style. Tomorrow we will be heading to Lux, bright and early. Meet back here at seven o'clock. We will head to the airport and some familiar faces will be back to escort you all," Alberta smirked before heading off out of the room. _

Up ahead, I could see Alberta conferring with Eddie and Lord Ivashkov. They were scanning a sheet of paper, another note perhaps.

"Alright everyone, meet at the elevators near the bathroom on the second floor please," Alberta's voice crackled through the earpiece.

Groups at a time, Guardians began to follow the directions, heading up the escalators to the semi secluded area where the elevators were located. I arrived at the spot, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. There were four elevators, and two of them had a sign stating they were out of order. Part of me questioned why the Elite would choose a meeting spot full of humans, part of me simply wanted to see Roza again. She haunted my dreams again last night, though this time, instead of her dying, she was running. She ran and ran and I chased and chased until we finally reached the edge of the cliff again where I would watch her take the hand of the man again and disappear from view over and over again.

As more of the Guardians made their way toward the elevators, Alberta went and stood in front of one of the broken elevators. "You remember the codes?" She asked Eddie, who nodded in the affirmative.

"Okay then, we'll need to do this in groups, first group of ten come with me, second group of ten please go with Guardian Castile in the other elevator. Everyone else, just wait until were return to get you."

She pressed the arrow buttons repetitively. Five up, five down, up, up, up, down, up, down, down, down, up, BING.

The out of order elevator opened, and I crowded into it. Inside, Alberta was already punching in another code on the elevator's buttons; 5, 6, 7, 1, 3, 5, 7, and so on. I squeezed slightly more inside to make room for the tall, pirate looking Moroi and the small red-headed Guardian who were entering the elevator, perhaps just as eager to see their daughter as I was.

At last the doors closed, and for a while nothing happened. I eyed the roof of the elevator, half expecting someone to burst through the small door up there, half hoping it would be Roza. Suddenly though, the elevator gave out a great creaking sound, and began to drop. Shrieks and yells were emitted, and the ten of us in the elevator fell in all directions, struggling to get a hold of something. Guardian Hathaway clinging tightly onto Abe Mazur while the rest of us clung on to whatever we would. Then the elevator stopped falling, and it suddenly began to feel like a high speed car ride, as it began to lurch in all different directions, turning left and right, speeding up more and more, causing us, the passengers, to sway uneasily with it.

I was seriously beginning to think the Elite and Guardians of Lux were trying to kill us when the elevator once again lurched to a stop and its doors opened to reveal perfection. Well, at least my version of it.

Roza stood in front of us, arms crossed and a slight smirk graced her flawless face. Her face full of amusement as she took in all of us. Her eyes flitted over her parents, who were still holding onto each other as they stared at their daughter in amazement, over all the disgruntled Guardians trying to gather their belongings, and finally, to me, sparing me a brief glance before she looked away again.

"Have a nice ride, guys?"

* * *

**Well there we go, actually reunited at last! I apologize for any spelling or grammar issues, it's really late as I'm typing this, but I wanted to get this out for you guys.**

**Here's a question:**

**From the brief appearances we've had from Ben, what do you guys think of him? Should Dimitri consider him a threat? I already know the answer, but I'm eager to hear your responses. **

**Next up, even more reuniting, we'll get to know Rose's team a little more, and maybe some father-daughter interaction?**

**Let me know what you guys think in a review and I will see you all next time! **


	9. The Airport: Part I

**Disclaimer: I own the plot and idea. I do not own Vampire Academy. All rights go to Richelle Mead.**

* * *

**Rose Hathaway**

I assessed the group in the elevator. There were my parents, who were holding onto each other for dear life, I was going to have to investigate that, whatever _that _was, later on. Standing awkwardly next to them was my ex-mentor, who despite having just been taking for a roller coaster elevator ride was looking only slightly ruffled. Alberta, who was the only composed one in the group, looked just as amused I was. And of course, there were the rest of the Guardians, who looked like they were either going to throw up or crap their pants, or a revolting combination of both.

The elevator next to this one pinged as well, the door opening to reveal even more nauseous Guardians, this one being headed by Eddie, who stepped out of the elevator excitedly, looking about the airport. He always did like visiting other realms.

"Where are we?" He asked.

"Galium Interdimensional Airport, four hours away from the Caelum Interdimensional Airport. It's the only airport with a large enough portal to transport all of you guys without overloading and sending us to some foreign dust land." I explained in full no-nonsense-badass Elite Agent mode as Eddie nodded along.

"Okay then, come along Guardians, get out of the elevators and follow me. We still have about one hundred and seventy more of you to transport here. Come on. " I called out to the group, turning and walking through the airport through the security checkpoint. I didn't need to check if they were following, I was basically the mother duck leading a group of lost new born ducklings into this big new scary world. Some of the regular travelers eyed the group of Guardians, but most were hurrying about to their destinations or lounging, waiting for their flights. The news over the past few weeks was full of the Elite Council members and Head Guardian Gemina Croft speaking out about the olive branch we had offered Moroi Court, their subsequent acceptance, and the training programs we were developing to train their Guardians.

Approaching the line at the security gate, this is where I was so very glad I was an Elite Agent, I finally paused, turning back to the group.

Oh good, they had kept up.

"Okay, guys, you know the drill. As your eyeballs can see, this is a security gate. Simply put your bags on the baggage scanner, and then please go through the machine. It is not a metal detector nor is it an x-ray machine or one of those machines that allows people to see your naked. Trust me, no one wants to see any of you naked. It will scan you for any dangerous materials, and all you need to do it stand still. Also, I want to reiterate please do not take any clothes off. Any questions?"

Alberta and the newbie Guardians shook their heads no. Eddie looked like he really wanted to make a crude joke after my naked comment, but his Guardian training was preventing him from doing it. Dimitri was eying me with a peculiar look on his face, though when he caught my gaze his Guardian mask slammed back on his face. And then there were my parents, different as night and day. My mother actually looked indignant; as if she was shocked she had to be taking orders from her daughter.

Or maybe she was still pissed about the whole breaking-into-St. Vlads-head-butt-thing.

Then there was my father. The Old Man, still wearing his ridiculous ensembles, today it was a black pin stripe suit with a neon yellow tie, matching pocket square and brilliant violet scarf, actually looked amused. He had that signature Mazur smirk that I had inherited, and was nodding along, his body language relaxed compared to the rigid stances of the Guardians. He never took his eyes off me either, my mom too, as if the two of them where afraid that once they looked away, I would disappear.

Quite frankly, it was starting to creep me out.

"Okay then, see you on the other side." I said, in full Elite Agent Mazur mode before turning and moving to the area next to the main line, the line for us special few, namely the Elite Agents and Guardians, our Guardians.

"Agent Mazur," the security agent nodded as I walked through the metal detector, flashing my Elite ID card, and my Elite crest pendant in full view.

"Thank you," I nodded, trying to hide my smile as I passed all the suckers waiting in the regular line. Yes, it was good to be an Elite agent.

Moving out of the security area to wait for my group, I suddenly had a coffee cup placed in my hand, full of my favorite chai tea, and a doughnut, courtesy of Josh.

"So, the big, kinda scary Russian? He's staring at you," Josh grinned, looking over my shoulder, "been staring for quite a while actually."

_Walking into my Potions and Brews I class, was much like walking into one of those cool laboratories you see in the movies, you know, the one belonging to the crazy mad scientist. Scanning the rows, we seemed to be seated in pairs, and considering I did not know most of these people, this was going to be difficult. Walking down the aisle, trying not to show that I was way out of my element here, I finally came across an empty seat with a decent looking guy occupying the one next to it._

_He had short dark brown hair, shaven close at the sides, formed into a semi faux hawk. When I cleared my throat to get his attention, he turned, revealing to me an open, friendly face._

"_Hey," he smiled cheerfully at me, showing off a set of adorable dimples. His dark brown eyes reminded me so much of Eddie, so full of joy and friendliness, with just a hint of curiosity._

"_Hi. Can I sit here?" I asked, mentioning toward the empty seat next to him._

"_Of course! Of course!" He nodded, clearing away his stuff to make room for me._

"_Thanks. I'm Rose by the way."_

"_Josh. Nice to meet you new Potions buddy," he smiled that happy smile again, and this time, I couldn't help but smile back. This guy's happiness was freaking infectious. _

"_Right back at ya. So…uh, you know anything about Potion making?" I asked, a little sheepishly._

"_Well, let's see, the last time I took Potions was Elementary Potions back in high school and the first day there I managed to brew a potion that turned my experimental frog bright yellow and go crazy, attacking my professor, when it was make him have extra spring in his hop. Yeah," he added at my surprised look, "needless to say, I was not a favorite of Professor's Kramp. Not that I really cared, the man was an incompetent ass." he snickered._

_I smiled, thinking of Stan Alto, "I had a teacher like that, once hid a small box of frogs in his desk! When he open the drawers, BAM, slimey green things everywhere," I laughed as Josh did as well._

"_Nice! This one time…"_

Josh and I would spend the rest of the time before class started recounting stories of our debauchery to one another, and then continue during lunch, where he showed me Mase's Diner, now my favorite place to go hen I just wanted some good old comfort food. Josh was truly like the little brother I never had. He reminded me so much of Eddie and a little bit of Mason; kind (everyone loves Josh), charming, caring, always looking to have fun, but knowing when to take stuff seriously. And when it was time to introduce Eddie and Josh, the two hit it off immediately, forming a cute bromance of sorts.

"He's been staring more at her bum than her actual self," Ben snorted as he walked past us, breaking me out of my reverie. He was headed in the other direction, no doubt going to collect the next group coming in.

"Shut up!" I cried, rolling my eyes and swatting his arm.

"Nothing to be ashamed of my love, it's a perfectly lovely bum you have," he called out as he began walking out of the security area.

"Thanks! I've been working on it," I called back, giving myself a little pat on the backside.

"You two and your antics," Josh laughed, "Belikov does not look pleased. Neither do your parents for that matter."

"Belikov's just mad that he gave up the right to get a piece of said sweet ass," Isabella smirked at she arrived, coming to stand next to us.

"I'd be pissed too if I were him," Lev grinned, wagging his eyebrows suggestively as he and Denis and Arthur, our very own Three Musketeers, walked past to retrieve more of the groups coming in.

When I first joined the Elite, I had learned that the Elite would never turn away anyone who was willing to dedicate themselves and work hard through their training. I thought about Denis, Lev, and Artur. I was pretty sure they were still unpromised, still just fighting Strigoi near and around Baia when they could be learning and doing so much more. After retrieving Denis' phone number and tracking them down, I told them about the Elite and Caelum, and how in the short time I had been here I could already feel that this place, this organization was different from the Guardians. They had been hesitant, as none of them as ever left Russia before, the enticing picture I gave then of the Elite, of an organization that was actually getting out there and fight, an organization that actually respected their Agents, eventually won them over. A few months after I had arrived, the boys did too, having to go through the exact same rigorous training I did.

Over the years they had kept me busy, but entertained, with their ridiculous antics. Seriously, I now knew what people with younger siblings felt like now.

"Yeah, I mean, I would forever be remembered as the idiot that destroyed his privileges to see Rose Mazur's sweet ass and-"Denis was cut off abruptly.

"Can we please stop talking about my ass?!" I cried exasperatedly, in mock annoyance, my comment unintentionally catching the attention of the crowd.

Eddie and Adrian were smirking, my mom looked scandalized, my old man actually laughed, and Dimitri…

"Oh God, big scary Russian glaring at us. That's our cue to leave." Lev muttered, the three of them scurrying off.

"Incredible," Josh observed, "the man can go from pissed off caveman to civilized Guardian in less than three seconds."

Turning a bit, I caught a glimpse of Dimitri right before he turned to retrieve his luggage. Josh was right, Dimitri was in full, calm Guardian mode, though he did retrieve his bags from the machine rather roughly.

"You all suck," I whined, though I couldn't hide the slight smirk on my face.

"But we're your suck people…?" Josh trailed off.

"That comment was so much better planned out in your head wasn't it?" Isabelle smirked.

"Yeah, a lot better," Josh nodded, the three of us laughing.

Isabelle was one of the first people I had met when I joined the Elite. While I was going through my schooling, I was given an apartment near the campus, and she was my roommate.

_I fumbled with my keys a little bit as I tried to open the door to my new apartment. To say I was shocked when I found out that I would be given an actual apartment, not a dorm, was an understatement. Still, I was incredibly grateful to the Elite for giving me this opportunity. Finally, I got the door opened, and stepped in._

_The apartment was nice and bright and clean. Taking a few steps in, I found to my immediate right, a small but modern looking kitchen. The rest of the room was taken up by the large living room with a small hallway I assumed led to the bed rooms. The walls of the living room were painted a light greyish-blue. Large windows took up a wall, letting in plenty of light and offering a gorgeous view of the city._

_Walking in further, I tentatively started to head toward the hallway, wanting to check out the bedrooms, when I heard a door opening and footsteps coming toward me. _

_Tensing, I prepared myself to fight an intruder, when a girl appeared. She had the same stance as I held, the two of us simply standing and observing each other._

_She was rather tall, though she was wearing a pair of ridiculously high boots. Without the boots, I would put her at a good three inches taller than me, probably placing her near 5'9". Her long raven black hair was pulled up into a tight bun and smokey eyeliner lined her light hazel eyes, highlighted by slender eyebrows that framed her face perfectly. Her pale skin was marred with the marks that showed she was Nephilim. She was wearing a long black maxi dress, accessorized with heaps of gold and silver jewelry paired with fabulous black leather boots and matching gloves. However, the thing that caught my eye the most was the gold whip wrapped around her arm. From the little weaponry I had seen, I knew that was the whip that could electrocute three grown men with one flick, the thing was lethal._

_And this girl was wearing it like it was some sort of accessory. _

_All in all, she looked like the perfect bitch._

_She eyed me the same way I eyed her, with some guarded caution and some criticism that made me stand up straighter. She smirked at that._

"_Isabelle," she said simply, the smirk still plastered on her face. I'm assuming that's her name._

"_Rose," I nodded._

_She nodded as well, "I'm assuming you're my new roommate," she eyed me again with that critical glaze of hers, which I was seriously getting tired of, and let out a sigh, as if she was disappointed by who had showed up at her doorstep._

_No shit, Sherlock. "Who the hell else would I be?" I countered._

_Finally, the Bitch Look dropped from her face and she laughed. It sounded like tinkling bells._

"_I think we'll get along just fine. Hey! Love those boots," she smiled, gesturing toward my old combats with cool silver buckles on them, "where'd you get them?"_

According to others in the team, Isabelle and I could have been twin sisters in a past life. We were both flirts, (though the general consensus was the Isabelle was a bigger one than I) and we were rather proud of our abilities, our looks, and we both loved the thrill of the Elite missions. And yes, we were both considered "bitchy" at times, though we personally think that is the greatest compliment of them all. Christian, that little shit, joked we could rule hell together one day.

I was brought back to the present by the sound of Isabelle's phone going off. Looking at the screen, she smirked that signature smirk again.

"Looks like I'm up. I'm just hoping I don't that a hurler in my group," she sniffed before leaving.

Soon, my group was done was security and Josh's was nearly done. Waving goodbye, I led my group over to the waiting area. We still had at least an hour before take off time.

"Okay, we're going to be here a while, so feel free to browse the shops for a while. Please meet back here within the hour for boarding. And please, don't get lost." I instructed, not really letting anyone ask anything, before heading off to wander a bit. I had nothing else to do, and the others would not be back for a while.

I had finished my Chai and was throwing it away when I felt his presence behind me. I was assuming he was a few shops down from me, so I continued walking a bit, pretending that I didn't know he was following me. Ducking into one of the Duty Frees, I hid behind one of the shelves, watching, trying to hold back laughter, as he came into the store and began looking around. He looked as if he was browsing the tax free goods, looking carefully behind every display and shelf, though the sales people were starting to eye him curiously. I mean, the guy was pretty intimidating.

Finally taking pity on him and the nervous looking sales people, I approached him just has he was pretending to observe some fancy scarf.

Tapping him on the shoulder, he turned, and for the first time in five years, we made eye contact.

* * *

**This chapter was meant to be longer, but I felt that this was a good stopping place. **

**Next chapter, we'll meet the rest of Rose's team, see who our mystery guy is, and have even more reunions. ****Also, if you left me a question in a review, it will be answered in the next chapter.**

**Happy Easter if you celebrate it; if you don't, happy weekend! See you next time!**


	10. The Airport: Part II

**Here's the next chapter guys, and as I said in the last chapter, I will be responding to some questions left for me in the reviews. Here we go!**

**Well first up, I asked you guys if you thought Ben would be a threat to Dimitri, and you guys were pretty split down the middle on that one. And yes, some of you had the correct answer. So is Ben going to be a threat? *shrugs* Where's the fun in telling you all the answer right now? *smirk***

_**Twilight407501: I think this is gonna be fun. Dimitri will prob see Ben as a threat cause rose might use him to make him jealous but there's nothing actually between them right? She still loves dimitri? Did Abe know she was there cause Sydney did? Update soon!**_

**_She still loves dimitri?_ Well, let me ask you this. Do you think Rose can ever stop loving Dimitri?**

_**Did Abe know she was there cause Sydney did?**_** No, remember that the only people who knew where Rose and Christian went were Eddie, Adrian, Sydney, and Alberta. Abe is coming along to Caelum because he wants to see his daughter, and well…when Abe Mazur wants to do something, you DO NOT say that he can't do it. LOL**

_**RoseLissaBelikova: Also, will we see what Lissa has been up to in the past five years? I know she was mentioned, but I was just wondering if she'll come along/see Rose.**_

**Right now, I just want to say: Sorry to all the Lissa lovers out there. I personally am not her biggest fan, I don't know, she just never really grew on me and she just irks me. I don't like how she treats Rose and Christian and Jill, especially in the last four books (Really wanted to kill her in Spirit Bound). Also, I feel like she's so disconnected with how the real world works; how tough everything was for Rose when Dimitri was turned, how Christian was feeling all though out Blood Promise and Spirit Bound, the fact that it is not Jill's fault Eric couldn't keep it in his pants, and I just feel like she is just a crappy friend and girlfriend. Once again, I'm sorry if you love Lissa, but she will not be a huge part of this story. She might show up later, but just for a brief cameo. Also, if you are wondering about the bond…go reread the end of chapter four.**

_**Where is Tasha – did she call off killing the Queen?**_

**Well Tatiana was shown in earlier chapters, so yes, she did call off killing the Queen. Why? Well that will be revealed later. And I also am not Tasha's biggest fan, but she will be showing up briefly later on. I can tell you not to worry, she will not be a threat to anyone or anything. I honestly thought about having Tasha get caught after killing the Queen…but I just couldn't do that to Christian! SO, I came up with something else.**

**Now to a general question…**

**Yes, Isabelle is Isabelle Lightwood from the Mortal Instruments series, and I freaking love her.**

**Okay, now let's get on with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I own the plot and idea. I do not own Vampire Academy. Isabelle belongs to Cassandra Clare. All rights go to Richelle Mead.**

* * *

**Dimitri Belikov**

During the fight at St. Vladimir's the action had occurred so fast that I had not really gotten a good look at Rose.

I sure did have a clear look now.

My memories did not do her justice, only remembering the young girl, and not taking into account the woman she would inevitably grow into. And, my God, my Roza had grown up.

Her skin skill looked as soft as ever, even though I could see some scars that had not been there before, but those just showed off Roza's bravery. And her hair was still long and shiny and beautiful, in fact it had gotten even longer, falling down to the small of her back.

She had slimmed down, losing the baby fat, and replacing it with lean muscle, but still retaining the amazing curves I could still recall running my hands over so clearly. Her perfect hourglass figure had become more prominent, and the tight jeans she wore allowed me to admire her lean legs, which led to her nicely rounded…

"Ahem," I was brought out of my thoughts of Roza and back into reality, where a rather angry looking Abe Mazur had apparently noticed my observations of his daughter.

Averting my eyes from Roza, I focused more on getting my bags onto the baggage check machine.

Still, Mazur's dirty look continued until Guardian Hathaway notice and forced him to stop.

"Shut up!" I heard Rose cry, and a few seconds later…

"Nothing to be ashamed of my love, it's a perfectly lovely bum you have," that damned English accent said.

What?

"Thanks! I've been working on it," I turned just in time to see Rose give the man a wink before slapping herself on the backside.

The two of them laughed, along with another young man who was standing next to Roza. The English man left the area then, and soon Roza was joined by three more men and the young woman whom I had seen at St. Vladimir's that other day. The little group chatted before I heard Roza cry out.

"Can we please stop talking about my ass?!"

The majority of the Guardians in line turned to the source of the comment, some of them starting to run their undeserving eyes over Roza. In front of me, Abe Mazur laughed before a scandalized Janine Hathaway elbowed him. Behind me, Guardian Castile and Ivashkov smirked whether at Roza's comment or my reaction I didn't know.

"Down kitty," Ivashkov laughed.

Apparently, I had been glaring and growled without actually realizing it. A few Guardians turned and looked at me, causing me to compose myself. After going through the scanner, I grabbed my bags from the security agent and exited the area.

By this time, the first group was done with security, and Roza was leading us away to the waiting areas.

"Okay, we're going to be here a while, so feel free to browse the shops for a while. Please meet back here within the hour for boarding. And please, don't get lost." She instructed, not really letting anyone ask anything, before heading off herself.

This was my chance to finally talk to her.

Setting down my bags, I made a move to follow her, when I was stopped.

"Belikov!" Ivashkov grinned as he and Castile came to either side of me and sat down, taking me with them.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm sure this is all a big shock to you."

"But everything will be okay."

"I know you feel quite…"

Ivashkov's and Castile's voices faded as the young man standing next to Rose entered with his group, but that wasn't what caught my attention.

It was that Englishman coming in with his group that did.

Castile noticed this and grinned.

"Ah, yes. Ben Noble." So that was his name.

"Kickass Elite Agent, Rose's friend, her partner, all around good guy," Ivashkov nodded.

"Isn't he dreamy?" Castile and Ivashkov smirked.

As much as I wanted to go find Roza, my curiosity got the best of me.

"Tell me about him."

* * *

**Rose Mazur**

"Hello Old Man."

"Little Girl."

"Are you going to buy that?"

"What?"

"The scarf. You've been holding it for a while now," I nodded toward the flashy turquoise scarf in his hand.

"Oh, well, yes. I guess I will buy it." He nodded toward the sales assistant, and one hurried forward to wrap it up.

After the old man bought the scarf, I offered to buy us some coffee.

"I thought you didn't like coffee," he asked, raising an eyebrow, as we waited for our drinks.

"You can never get enough caffeine Old Man," I countered, "so, how have you been?"

There was a beat of silence before Abe sighed.

"What are we doing, kiz?"

"We're chatting Old Man. Having a conversation? You know, that thing where two people talk and exchange pleasantries? Catching up?"

"Bullshit."

I raised an eyebrow, well at least I think I did. Ben had tried to teach me once but after a couple of hours of coaching and threats of duct tape, I had only managed to life my brow a few millimeters, which according to Ben, was "good enough."

"Language, father dearest." I smirked.

"Rosemarie," he growled, giving me that look parents can only give. Huh, twenty-three years old and I'm now just getting that look from my father.

"Sorry," I muttered, taking a sip from my drink.

There were a few more beats of silence before Abe spoke again.

"I've missed you so much Kiz, your mother and I both."

Looking up from my drink, I saw nothing but truth in my father's eyes. I saw the sadness, the anger, the disbelief, the relief, the haggardness. Eddie had told me about my parents. How they were frantic in their search for me. How Abe had exhausted every resource and connection he had in hopes to find me, and how my mom had called every academy she knew of, just hoping that I was there. They worried and freaked out, just like any parents would if their kid up and ran. It showed in their appearance too. Abe, though still wearing his flashy outfits, looked exhausted. They were dark circles under his eyes, and there was just a touch of grey coming into his signature Mazur hair. Mom was much the same. She was still the esteemed Guardian Hathaway, but she too had the dark circles, and she had looked rather frazzled as well, her auburn hair slightly more messy and her Guardian uniform slightly wrinkled from what I saw a few minutes earlier.

It touched me so much that my parents were looking so hard for me, how concerned they were. My one regret would be not being able to say goodbye to my parents when I left, to tell them that I love them, to let them know that I would be ok so they wouldn't have worried so much, and that I know that they loved me as well. I was a coward, I knew how much of a hard time they were having, but I just could not bring myself to call or visit. Every Christmas, every Mother's Day and Father's Day, every one of their birthdays, I had gone out and gotten them a gift. However, I would never actually hand it to them, instead placing the gifts on their doorstep, or giving it to Eddie to give to my parents.

Swallowing the lump that had arisen in my throat, "I've missed you and mom too."

"Then why did you never call? Send a note? A letter? Anything to let us know you were alive and not lying dead in a ditch somewhere?!

I gripped my drink a little tighter. Well, it was nice to have your parents have so much faith in your abilities.

"I gave you guys gifts…"

"A few gifts during a few special occasions. You really think that was enough to relive our fears? We couldn't even be sure they were from you!

Looking down at my caramel latte, I said nonchalantly, "I've been busy."

"Busy?" Came the disbelieving response.

"Yes."

"Busy?" His eyes flashed dangerously and his voice had a hard edge to it.

"Yes Old Man, busy. You know, that thing where you have a lot of shit going on?" I replied brightly, which was a bad move considering the way the Old Man narrowed his eyes at me. I think I saw the vein in his forehead become more pronounced.

"Little Girl," he growled, "my blood pressure..."

"Sorry, sorry." I muttered again. "I've been…I've been..."

How does one describe the life changing, and I do mean that quite literally, experience that I've gone through these past five years?

"Living. I've been living, Old Man." I finally answered, smiling serenely at Abe, who seemed surprised with my answer.

"Living? What do you mean-" he was cut off by an awkward throat clearing behind me.

Both of us turning around, we found Ben, standing there rather endearingly awkwardly.

"Sorry to interrupt, but it's Guardian Hathaway…"

* * *

"YOU IDIOTS! YOU TRAITORS! YOU TWO KNEW WHERE SHE WAS THE ENTIRE TIME, YOU SAW HOW HARD IT WAS FOR ALL OF US AND HOW HARD WE SEARCHED FOR HER, AND YOU KNEW WHERE SHE WAS THE ENTIRE TIME?! I SHOULD HAVE YOU TWO SKINNED AND -"

"Mom!"

"Janine!"

Abe and I cried at the same time, not amused.

Mom turned back to look at us, her face almost as red and fiery as her hair, from where she held Adrian and Eddie, both wide-eyed and looking rather abashed and terrified, against the wall by the collar of their shirts. Around them, travelers, Guardians, and Agents looked on, some amused, some concerned.

"Let them go mom." I said firmly, crossing my arms.

She simply stared at me, looking like she was about to yell at me as well, when Abe intervened.

"Janine, please. Threats aren't really your forte, don't you think? Leave them to me. Let the boys go, come on now. Janine, let them go." Abe reiterated, his eyes narrowing, almost challenging mom.

She glared back, and for a few seconds that's all they did, just challenging each other. Our little section of the airport dead silent as we all watched. Finally, mom let go of the boys, and Abe come forward and led her away from the area, his hand placed comfortably at the small of her back as they whispered back and forth.

Ewww. That is all I have to say about that.

"You guys ok?" I asked Eddie and Adrian and they slowly detached themselves from the wall and straightened out their shirts.

"Fine Little Dhampir, just fine." Adrian replied, popping his collar, though his voice was slightly shaky.

"Yeah, it's all good." Eddie sniffed, rolling his shoulders.

I rolled my eyes. Men.

"There's a bar a few stores down that way," I pointed out.

"Oh thank God," Adrian muttered, practically bolting toward bar.

"I should go with him…you know…to monitor his drinking…yeah…" Eddie mumbled, taking after his charge

"So, that was my mom and dad…" I said brightly, turning to my team, who had all arrived and had congregated in a section of the seating area.

"They seem…nice," Josh nodded.

"Not scary at all," Lev muttered before taking a swig of his own drink.

"I pity the poor man who comes asking for your hand, Rose," Jay laughed.

Jay was the former leader of our team before he stepped down due to the birth of his beautiful baby boy, Jack. Being team leader involved a lot more paperwork and planning than if you were just a regular Agent. He wanted to be a hands on father, to truly be there for Jack and his gorgeous wife, Aria, to be the complete opposite of his own parents. His father hadn't even stuck around for the pregnancy and his mother had abandoned him on a park bench when he was only a few days old. Jay had bounced around from one foster home to another before finally settling down with a nice couple when he was sixteen. And just in time too, as the Change for werewolves, the period where their werewolf abilities really developed, had just arrived for Jay. It's a rough transition period for werewolves, added on to the even more awkward adolescent period, but Jay managed, his new foster father helping him through it. He was ten years older than I was. It was slightly awkward when we first met, as to a stranger, Jay was pretty intimidating. He was rather tall, almost as broad and tall as Dimitri, with dark eyes and sharp, angular features. His hair was kept short and his strong jawline seemed to perpetually be littered with stubble. However, when he smiled, dimples the size of craters appeared, and you could see the child-like spark in his eyes. And once you got to know him, you could see his gentle, almost shy, demeanor, and his child-like playfulness.

"Your mom is so totally bad ass!" Leigha piped up cheerily.

"Seriously though, I now see where you get it from," Dianna smiled.

"Thanks, but please, do not offer to give my mother weapon's training," I smiled a bit as Dianna pouted. The girl loved her weaponry.

I had met Dianna in one of my weapons classes. We had hit it off instantly, becoming fast friends as she helped my find my "signature" weapon. Dianna, sweet Dianna who looked like she belonged in a Disney princess movie, had a penchant for axes. Yes, her signature weapon was an ax. Girl may look innocent, but she actually kicks some serious ass, with or without her ax.

Leigha I had met in mythology class. We sat right next to each other and honestly, her bubbly personality had annoyed me at first, though at the time I was still slightly bitter at well…everything. However, Leigha made it slightly better with her friendship, her amazing listening skills, and her awesome baking.

"_I don't get it. You're a witch, you could totally just use your wand to zap us up a plate of brownies instantly," I said as I sprayed Pam into a baking pan while Leigha stirred the brownie mixture. It wasn't even in the oven yet and it already smelled divine._

"_Patience is a virtue," she smirked, "plus, when I left home, I promised my mother I'd actually use my magic for good, not just for conjuring up food and retrieving stuff from across the room without getting up."_

_I finished with the pans and Leigha was soon dividing the batter evenly between them before we put them in the oven. I watched questioningly as Leigha opened her refrigerator door and pulled out a smaller bowl filled with what looked like the brownie batter she had just made._

"_What's that for?" I asked._

"_I thought we could get a head start on our chocolate-induced coma while we wait for the brownies," she smiled as she handed me a spoon, "plus, a girl CANNOT rag on her ex-boyfriend on an empty stomach, it's just unacceptable." _

_I smiled back and eagerly dug my spoon into the bowl before shoving the contents into my mouth. I think this was the start of a beautiful friendship._

Checking my phone for the time, I saw we still had fifteen minutes until boarding. Seeing Ben had sat down, I plopped down in the seat beside his, resting my head on his shoulder and yawning a bit.

"Tired, love?" He asked, looking down at me.

"Little bit," I mumbled, snuggling into his shoulder more. We had gotten up pretty early this morning in order to go over the organization process and to actually get to Galium. Plus, the small confrontation with Abe had drained me a little.

"It'll be alright," he murmured, his soft accent cooing, like music to my ears.

Opening one eye, I looked up at my partner. He seriously was handsome, with his lean build, and his pale, rune marked skin. His grey eyes were gentle and slightly amused as he looked down at me.

"What?" he asked.

"You need a haircut," I grinned, reaching up and brushing the lock that fell into his eyes back slightly. Ben didn't have the purposefully messy haircut that most guys did. His hair was kept neat and short at the sides, but he had let the rest grow out, sort of like a faux hawk, but instead of spiking his hair up, he let it flop down adorably onto his forehead. Okay, to me it was adorable, to some, it was totally, and completely bad ass.

"Is that an order?" Ben grinned, raising an eyebrow while playfully pinching my hip.

I squealed slightly, pushing him gently back, "You bet your sweet ass it is," I joked.

"I'll get right on it," he winked.

"You wanna know what else you can get on?" I asked coyly, throwing in an exaggerated wink and eyebrow wiggle.

His chest shook with suppressed laughter, as we fought to contain our laughter. Ben opened his mouth to send back some witty retort, when he was sadly cut off by one of the plane inspectors appearing, informing us that the plane inspection was over and that tank had just finished being filled up, which meant we could go on board and start preparing.

"Okay guys," I called out to my team as Ben helped me up, "let's go."

* * *

**First off, let me just apologize for a couple of things. Number one, sorry I didn't update last week! I really wanted to, but I ended up going out to a party with friends and I got home rather late. Plus, I had to study for a final. Number two, sorry about this chapter. It's really just a filler chapter, but I wanted to get something up for you guys! And also, sorry for any mistakes, but it's nearly two in the morning as I'm typing this, and I will go back and fix any mistakes later on.**

**Little side note here: Because I feel like my description of Ben's hair is not epic enough, or if you just can't visualize it, I picture his hair to be like Matt Lanter's on Star Crossed.**

**Next chapter, we will board the plane and arrive in Caelum! Finally! Also we will have more of Rose spending time with her past...**

**Quick question: My original outline had put this story at about 20-25 chapters, however; now I think it will be more like 25-35 chapters. Are you guys okay with that? It's just that when I set out to do this story, I had a strict idea of how to go about it, but know, I'm just getting around to developing the concepts I have inside my head, and am just realizing that I need a few more chapters to flesh them out. I already know how this story will end, but I just need a few more chapters to get us there. Plus, I'm very detail oriented, so I like describing and trying to get the image from my head onto the screen is proving to be harder than it is...I hope you are ok with this!**

**Also, I want to thank you guys! I didn't realize it right away, but the last three chapters have gotten over TWENTY reviews! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You guys are EPIC!**

**And one last thing before I head off to bed...I have a few more questions I need to answer...**

_**Twilight407501: there's nothing actually going on between them (Ben and Rose) right?**_

_**Guest: Is rose and that guy together together?**_

_**Guest: is rose dateing that guy**_

_**RoseLissaBelikov: Something I was confused about is how "together" Rose and Ben are. They hug, hold hands, have nick-names, etc. but that's not totally conclusive of a relationship. Have they kissed? Are they, in some capacity, dating?**_

_**aj davis: So are Ben and rose together or just friends I'm confused**_

**Now, I'm getting this feeling a lot of you are wondering about the status of Ben and Rose's relationship. To which my response is…**

**I don't know. Are they? *shrugs* Well, I mean, I do know, but the fun of keeping you all in suspense would be gone if I just told you the answer now! Come on people, good things come to those who wait. Just come and enjoy the ride with me! *cue evil laughter***

**Please read and review guys! **

**Until, next time!**


	11. Welcome to Caelum

**A little mid-week surprise! ;)**

**Disclaimer: I own the plot and idea. I do not own Vampire Academy. All rights go to Richelle Mead.**

* * *

**Dimitri Belikov**

My eyes followed as Roza left the waiting area and headed onto one of the planes with her team, which included Benjamin Noble.

From what I had gotten from Ivashkov and Castile was basically that the man was perfect. He was a model Elite Agent; in the top five percent in his class and had won the Elite Rookie of the Year award his first official year as an agent. He was a master swordsman, beginning to learn when he was only nine years old. His signature weapon was of course the swords, but apparently the man was equally deadly with anything that had a blade on it. Apart from his work as an Agent, the man also an actor, though it was simply a "hobby," one that he was supposedly very good at. He did a little theater, working there occasionally when he got off work at the Elite, but mostly during his breaks and vacations. As if that wasn't impressive enough, the man knew Latin. Yes, Latin. And on top of all that, not only was he Rose's partner, he was her best friend, her confidant. He was the first person she met when she left, her first new friend. He had been there for her for the past five years, he had been there to help Rose reinvent herself and grow up into a beautiful woman; he had been there when I hadn't.

My mood darkened at the thought. Five years. Who knows what could have transpired between them in those five years?

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Elite flight number E130…"

The voice of the boarding agent broke me out of my thoughts. Checking the electronic board next to me, I saw that I was on a different flight from the one being called. Looking away from the board, my gaze turned to the large windows in front of me. I could see the aircrafts from here. There where the regular commercial flights going out, and then there were the Elite jets. They were pretty hard to miss. The jets were just as large as the commercial jets, but instead of being standard white, they were painted a sleek black color with silver detailing.

Around me, Guardians began boarding their respective flights, and soon my flight was being called as well.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Elite flight number E032790, is now ready for boarding. Please line up in an orderly manner and…"

I slung my duffle bag onto my shoulder and got into my line. After giving my name to the agent, I was let into the jetway. After walking through that, I stepped onto the aircraft, where an Elite Agent kindly told me to sit anywhere.

I believed that I was currently in the Economy class, as the Agent soon disappeared up the small stairwell to the second level of the plane where I presumed First class was, but it was built like First class. There were no rows of cramped seats, but rather rows of pods, large enough to even fit my frame, and spaced out enough to allow for privacy. They were furnished with a nice sized screen and small storage area for books and the such. Stowing my bag into the overhead compartment, I got into my seat, enjoying the slight recline when I sat down. Soon, the plane began to fill up. Guardian Hathaway and Abe Mazur soon came onboard, having calmed significantly, though that faded as soon as Castile and Ivashkov came on board. And of course, Ivashkov chose to take the pod right next to mine. Great.

"Hey Belikov," the man slurred slightly as he collapsed into his quarters.

"Lord Ivashkov," I acknowledged, "have a nice time at the bar?"

"You betcha buddy!" He grinned, leaning out a little and shooting me a thumbs up.

Shaking my head, I turned back to reading the safety instruction card.

"I would ask you if you want a drink, but I think you already got a head start."

My head shot up at the teasing, melodious voice.

Roza stood in front of Ivashkov, the signature Rose Hathaway smirk on her face, arms folded across her chest.

"Of course Little Dhampir! What else would you expect?" Ivashkov retorted.

The two of them laughed, Castile joining in, and I would not help it as I felt my temper flaring a bit. I was already overwhelmed over all that was occurring, but add to the fact that Castile and Ivashkov had known where Roza was all these years? That was simply not helping matters. In fact, it simply made me want to throttle Ivashkov even more than usual. Everything Guardian Hathaway had said in the airport was completely true. It was completely unfair to all of us that those two knew where Roza and Ozara were, had even visited them on numerous occasions, and yet left the rest of us in the dark. I suppose we all underestimated the loyalty those two felt toward Roza.

"Hello Guardian Belikov."

My head snapped up to meet Roza's beautiful eyes. My breath caught in my throat as I gazed up at her, mesmerized by her sheer presence and shocked that she was actually acknowledging me.

"Roza." I breathed out.

She ignored my use of her nickname and simply smiled at me. "Would you like a drink Guardian Belikov?"

Ignoring the stab of pain that went through me at her cool demeanor, I nodded. "Just a water please."

"Of course," she nodded walked off to the next pod. A couple minutes later, Roza returned with a tray of drinks. I spotted other Agents with trays as well. Benjamin Noble was currently serving Guardian Hathaway a shot of what looked like whiskey while Abe Mazur looked on, half amused, half concerned.

"Here we go," Roza smiled down at me handing me a tall glass of water, "one water."

"Thank you," I nodded.

She nodded back and began to walk away when I made a snap decision.

Catching her arm right as she was about to escape my grasp, I pulled her into my pod, her body flush next to mine. Turning a bit to face her, I tried to control the onslaught of emotions coursing through me due to her close proximity. God, her skin still felt so soft, and she still smelled the same, that beautiful combination of mangos and jasmine, and-

"Yes Guardian Belikov? Is there a specific reason you pulled me in here?" Roza questioned, her right eyebrow actually managing to rise a bit.

"I wanted to talk to you." I replied.

"Okay," she said simply, blinking her wide eyes.

"You-you keep calling me Guardian Belikov."

"That's your title isn't it?" she argued.

"You never addressed me as such, even when you were supposed to," I argued back.

She simply shrugged.

I breathed out of my nose harshly. "Roza-"

"Rose. My name is Rose, Guardian Belikov." She interrupted me firmly, her eyes narrowing and her shoulders straightening in defiance.

"Rose," I nodded, hiding my hurt over her rejection of her former nickname, "we need to talk."

"We are talking," she said, gesturing between us.

"No! You know what I mean," I said exasperatedly, getting frustrated with her deliberate stubbornness, "we need to talk about us. About what happened."

She smiled enigmatically at me. "Funny, I wanted to talk to you about us years ago. And I do remember that encounter so clearly. Do you remember, Guardian Belikov?"

I flinched at the hard tone that developed at the end of her comment, which had done its intended purpose, as guilt stabbed me though the heart.

"Roz-Rose, please. Just let me say one thing, please." I pleaded as she began to open her mouth. "About that day, the day at the church, what I said to you? I didn't mean it…I just felt so guilty over what I did to you and I let that affect my judgment. I'm so sorry."

She blinked. "And now? Do you still feel guilty?"

"Yes, but…but I've begun to forgive myself for what I did to you, in Russia and that day in church. I was foolish to think that avoiding you would solve all of our problems. It was twisted logic, but…but I've changed Rose, or I'm beginning to change and-"

"You've changed?" Rose interrupted.

"I-yes?" I said, fearing her next response.

"Well, I've changed too, Dimitri. A lot more that you think." She laughed ruefully, her eyes glazing over a bit at some memory or thought. Before I could ask what she meant, she abruptly stood.

"I need to get back. We're about ready for take off."

I grabbed her arm once again. "But we will talk more later. This conversation isn't over." I said firmly.

She sighed, but nodded, and left my pod, my body immediately feeling colder as her presence left me. I watched as she walked over to Benjamin, the two of them sharing a look, before she looped her arm through his, dragging him toward the stairs and disappearing up to the second deck. I tried to swallow the ugly jealous feeling trying to overtake me.

"Ouch," Ivashkov smirked, no doubt witnessing our conversation and my reaction to what just transpired.

I simply ignored the man, turning to face the screen as the pilot came over the intercom system, doing the usual welcome, informing us that the anticipated flight time was to be around four hours; the usual, and soon after that, we were airborne.

The rest of the flight was rather uneventful, my time spent between reading my western that I had brought along with me and ignoring Ivashkov's attempts at socialization. We were given a little snack that was handed out by the Elite Agents, though this time Roza didn't come by my pod, instead pausing to socialize with Castile and Ivashkov briefly before heading up to the Elite deck once again. Soon after that, we were told that we were beginning our descent into the Caelum Interdimensional Airport.

Sitting up, I put my seat belt back on and looked out the window. For the past few hours all I had been able to see were clouds, but know I could actually see land and water. The water was as blue as any ocean in the dimension I knew. And in the distance I could see a city; the towering skyscrapers, a bridge, and the airport we were rapidly approaching. Before I knew it, we were on the ground again, and the pilot was back over the intercom.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at the Caelum Interdimensional Airport in Caelum. Current time is 2:30 p.m. and the weather is a perfectly pleasant 71 degrees. We thank you for an excellent flight, and we hope you enjoy your time here.

Soon after that, the seat belt signs turned off and the plane came to a complete stop. A rush of Elite agents came pouring down from the second deck, all dressed in black and silver. Retrieving my bag from over head, I got in the line to exit and shuffled along with everyone else toward the door, where the Elite agents had congregated, and were acting like a welcoming committee as we exited the plane. I finally reached the exit, where Ben Noble was the first to greet me. In his Elite uniform, arms crossed, a slight smirk on his face, which grew when I came near, he simply said,

"Welcome to Caelum."

* * *

**Hey guys! I just wanted to get this chapter up because I'm not sure if I can update this weekend. I'll try my best to do so, but I have finals coming up and a study session Saturday. I'll try my best to update, but no guarantees. Wish me luck?**

**Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please leave me a review, they are excellent incentives to write and are always appreciated! ;) **

**Happy Hump Day! (If it's Wednesday where you are, if not, have a nice day!)**


	12. Protectors

**Disclaimer: I own the plot and idea. I do not own Vampire Academy. All rights go to Richelle Mead.**

* * *

**Rose Hathaway**

"But we will talk more later. This conversation isn't over."

I sighed, but nodded, yanking my arm out of Dimitri's grasp before bolting out of the pod. I tried to ignore the warmth that left my body almost as soon as I left Dimitri's presence. I tried to ignore the fact that just being near him, seeing his face up close for the first time in years, his eyes penetrating mine, smelling his familiar aftershave, made my heart go crazy and my breath slightly short.

Rushing between the pods, I grabbed Ben, who was looking rather concerned at the amount of whisky my mother was throwing back, dragging him back upstairs to our deck. Seeing me in slight distress, the rest of the agents moved swiftly out of our way. Collapsing into my seat, I turned to Ben, wide eyed.

"Did that just happen?" I asked.

"What? Do you mean your ex-boyfriend confronting you, of course causing suppressed feelings to bubble up; or having your mum down four shots down in less than a minute?" Ben answered innocently, chuckling a bit.

"C'mon love, did you honestly think you could go through this entire program and not have to face Belikov eventually?" He added when he noticed my glare.

"No! I'm not stupid, I was just hoping that I could you know…hide and avoid him until the last possible second, and then we could have a brief chat before he boarded the plane and went back to Court…Not have him pull me aside and talk when we haven't even gotten back home yet!" I said, crossing my arms.

"And how would you hide from him for the six to twelve weeks it will take for us to help them?

"Easy," I grinned, straightening myself, "I would use you as my shield; my valiant guard and lookout who would shield me from the gaze and confrontation of the great big Russian."

Ben snorted, un-amused. "Love, you usually come up with the best plans, but that one sucks arse."

"Do you have any better ideas?!"

"Uh, talk to the man? And while you're at it, talk to your mum and dad as well, before your mum becomes an alcoholic, eh? Look," he continued, cutting me off as he saw that I was opening my mouth, about to protest, "I know you're scared. I know you don't want to confront your past demons, but you have to love, we all have to at some point in our lives. Face 'em head on, like you face everything else. If you can face all that shit we have to face when we head out on a mission, I think you can handle having a civil, non-violent conversation with your ex-boyfriend. Though I'm not too sure about your parents…that non-violent part may not work with your mum…"

"Rose," Artur spoke up, as he, Lev, and Denis arrived, "remember that we're here for you."

"Yeah! We know what he did to you, and we got your back, girl!" Lev butted in, his comment causing me to suppress the laugh that threatened to erupt.

"We're not going to let him get anywhere near you again unless you're okay with it," Denis added.

"What's going on here?" Josh asked, as he and the rest of the team arrived and joined out little pow-wow.

"We're discussing the Russian situation…"

"What? Why?"

"Well said situation may or may not have just ambushed Rose to get her to talk to him…"

"Guys, I'd hardly call what just happened an ambush…" I started, but was cut off.

"Oh hell no," Isabelle's eyes narrowed, she whip shining dangerously as she folded her arms across her chest, Josh nodding in agreement at her ever so eloquent sentiment.

"One does not just confront their ex, whose heart they broke years ago, in a public space! That's just not right!" Leigha huffed.

"Want me to talk to him?" Jay asked, though by "me" I knew that he actually meant his wolf side and by "talk" he actually mean corner and threaten. Trust me, you do not know terror until you see a wolf the size of a horse coming straight for you.

"I could help," Dianna added as her hand reflexively twitched toward the chakra blades in her pocket.

"Am I the only one more concerned about Guardian Hathaway's potential drinking problem?" Ben chuckled.

The withering glare I shot stopped those as Ben simply smirked. Turning my attention back to the rest of the team, I suddenly felt so overwhelmingly grateful that I had met all these awesome people, whom I loved and who loved me back. Seriously, I don't think I've ever truly, genuinely liked so many people, and considered them my friends, true friends, before. When we're on duty, we kick ass as Team Eight. We all have our roles and we perform them well, working together as we headed out into the big scary world to fight the evils I never could have dreamed existed. Off the clock through, we were all just a group of friends; chilling out, chatting over mundane things, joking around, having a huge Sunday dinner together every Sunday evening…Don't get me wrong, I sometimes miss my friends from the Academy, but looking back, most of those friendships, besides Eddie of course, were nowhere near as deep as the ones I had formed in Caelum. I mean, here were a group of people who were willing to come to my defense against a rather intimidating Russian, just to ensure that I'll be comfortable. It was moments like these that made me appreciate my friends.

"Thanks guys," I smiled.

They dispersed after making a few more encouraging comments, having to take their seats for takeoff.

"So you're going to be a mature adult about this? Take things as they happen and accept them and all that shit? Not hide behind me?" Ben asked from next to me.

"Yeah, I guess so," I rolled my eyes.

"Good, because I am not being anyone's bloody shield…especially not for a person hiding from a pissed off Russian and Scottish woman, that's just a death wish waiting to happen." he grumbled jokingly.

"Aww, but you would have loved being my protector, my look out! I pay very generously!" I wiggled my eyebrows, causing Ben to snort.

"What are the wages?"

"Uh, my eternal love and devotion?" I said in a "duh" tone.

"Psssh, I already have that," Ben rolled his eyes.

We chuckled together like a pair of nerds before lapsing into a comfortable silence. I looked out the window, and sure enough we were already airborne, on our way back home.

I rested my head back against the cushion of the seat. All the while, I tried to ignore image of those piercing, pained eyes, and the tingling skin where Dimitri had touched me. Shutting my eyes, I tried to get a few more hours of rest before my life would be turned upside down, again. Thank God I have good friends, and access to alcohol if needed.

* * *

**Okay, not much action here, but you get to see more of the gang, and it's still an update! Hope you liked the little glimpse into Rose's head and meeting her group of friends! Originally this chapter was meant to be longer, but I decided to split it up to get the chapter ensure an update. Now, next chapter, I PROMISE, we will be in Caelum! We'll be back with Dimitri and Eddie and Adrian! Sounds like fun, well for us anyway, Dimitri..not so much!**

**Now, with the proper encouragement *coughreviewscough* I can probably get that intended second part of the chapter up sometime tomorrow? How does that sound? **

**Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there! Where would we be without you...seriously, where would we be?**

**And for the non-Moms out there...go do something nice for your Mom!**


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